Unmanned aerial vehicle remote flight planning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12397675-B2
Application number	US-202117522091-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2021
Priority date	Feb 13, 2015
Publication date	Aug 26, 2025
Grant date	Aug 26, 2025

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight planning. One of the methods includes receiving a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by a UAV. One or more images depicting the location are obtained, and a geofence boundary to limit flight of the UAV is determined. A survey area is determined, and a flight data package is created for transmission that includes information describing a flight plan. After the flight plan is conducted, flight log data and sensor data are received. The flight log data and sensor data are processed, and at least a portion of the processed sensor data is displayed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining a geofence boundary to enforce against an unmanned aerial vehicle based on a survey area;
determining, based on first information obtained from a user device, waypoints for the unmanned aerial vehicle to travel between to perform a survey within the survey area;
determining, based on second information obtained from the user device, a survey type for the survey;
determining a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform the survey based on the geofence boundary, the waypoints, and the survey type; and
generating a flight data package configured to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate according to the flight plan;
presenting, for display at the user device, a graphical user interface including one or more images of at least a portion of the survey area; and
receiving the first information via the graphical user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface enables a user of the user device to specify one or more of an order in which the unmanned aerial vehicle is to travel between the waypoints, an action for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform at one or more of the waypoints, or a transition speed for the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate between two or more of the waypoints.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
outputting, via a graphical user interface presented for display at a second user device, third information associated with the flight plan and the geofence boundary.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the geofence boundary is determined based on information obtained from one or more of the user device, a commercial database, or a governmental database.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
presenting, for display at the user device, a graphical user interface including selectable options associated with functionality for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform; and
receiving the second information via the graphical user interface based on a selection of one or more of the selectable options.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the selectable options are limited based on a configuration of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface includes at least a portion of the flight path.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface includes a highlighted area that defines the geofence boundary.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the geofence boundary comprises a two-dimensional or three-dimension location-based boundary that can be understood as a virtual perimeter.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the geofence boundary is represented on a map as a polygonal shape.

11. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to:
determine a geofence boundary to enforce against an unmanned aerial vehicle based on first information identifying a survey area;
wherein, to determine the geofence boundary, the processor is configured to: present, for display at a user device, a first graphical user interface including one or more images of at least a portion of the survey area; and receive the first information via the first graphical user interface;
determine a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform a survey within the survey area based on the geofence boundary and based on second information specifying a survey type for the survey; and
generate a flight data package configured to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate according to the flight plan,
wherein the first information and the second information are obtained from the user device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein, to determine the flight plan, the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
present, for display at the user device, a second graphical user interface including selectable options associated with functionality for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform; and
receive the second information via the second graphical user interface based on a selection of one or more of the selectable options.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a selectable option of the selectable options corresponds to a user request for application associated with an additional survey type, and wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
responsive to a selection of the selectable option, search an application store for an application configured for the additional survey type.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
determine, based on third information obtained from the user device, waypoints for the unmanned aerial vehicle to travel between to perform the survey.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, to determine the flight plan, the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
determine the flight plan based on the waypoints and the survey type.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
transmit information associated with the flight data package to a requesting entity.

17. A flight planning system implemented as computer-executable instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the flight planning system comprising:
a flight description engine configured to:
receive first information and second information via one or more user interfaces presented at a user device, the first information identifying waypoints for an unmanned aerial vehicle to travel between to perform a survey, within a survey area the second information identifying a survey type for the survey;
determine a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform the survey based on the waypoints and the survey type;
and present, for display at the user device, another user interface including one or more images of at least a portion of the survey area;

a permission control engine configured to determine a geofence boundary to enforce against the unmanned aerial vehicle for the survey; and
a report generation engine configured to generate information associated with a flight data package based on the flight plan, wherein the flight data package is configured to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate according to the flight plan.

18. The flight planning system of claim 17 , comprising:
an analysis engine configured to store, within a database, sensor information obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicle as the unmanned aerial vehicle performs the survey.

19. The flight planning system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more user interfaces include selectable options associated with functionality for the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform and the information identifying the survey type is received based on a selection of one or more of the selectable options.

20. The flight planning system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more user interfaces include one or more images of at least a portion of a survey area associated with the survey, and wherein the first information is received based on an interaction with the one or more images.

Assignees

• Skydio Inc

Inventors

• Johnson Eric David
• Poole Alan Jay
• Weigel Donald Curry
• Bauer Mark Patrick
• Gurel Volkan
• Kallman Jesse Daniel
• Sax Adam

Classifications

• H04W4/021

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

• H04L43/16

  Threshold monitoring · CPC title

• H04B7/18506

  Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service · CPC title

• G05D1/2246

  displaying a map of the environment · CPC title

• G08G5/57

  for unmanned aircraft · CPC title