Assured Geo-Containment System for Unmanned Aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017193827-A1
Application number	US-201615386041-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 21, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A Geo-containment system includes at least one unmanned aircraft and a control system that is configured to limit flight of the unmanned aircraft based, at least in part, on predefined Geo-spatial operational boundaries. These boundaries may include a primary boundary and at least one secondary boundary that is spaced apart from the primary boundary a minimum safe distance. The minimum safe distance is determined while the unmanned aircraft is in flight utilizing state information of the unmanned aircraft and dynamics and dynamics coefficients of the unmanned aircraft. The state information includes at least position and velocity of the unmanned aircraft. The control system is configured to alter or terminate operation of the unmanned aircraft if the unmanned aircraft violates the primary Geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary Geo-spatial boundary.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A geo-containment system, comprising:
at least one unmanned aircraft; a control system configured to limit flight of the unmanned aircraft based, at least in part, on pre-defined geo-spatial operational boundaries including a primary geo-spatial operational boundary and at least one secondary geo-spatial operational boundary that is spaced apart from the primary geo-spatial operational boundary at a minimum safe distance, and wherein the minimum safe distance is determined while the unmanned aircraft is in flight utilizing, at least in part: (1) state information of the unmanned aircraft including position and velocity of the unmanned aircraft, and (2) dynamics coefficients of the unmanned aircraft, and wherein: the control system is configured to alter operation of the unmanned aircraft if the unmanned aircraft violates either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operation boundary by moving to a position in which the unmanned aircraft is less than an allowable distance from either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

2 . The geo-containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the control system is configured to terminate operation of the unmanned aircraft if the unmanned aircraft violates either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operation boundary by moving to a position in which the unmanned aircraft is less than an allowable distance from either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

3 . The geo-containment system of claim 2 , wherein:
the at least one secondary geo-spatial operational boundary comprises a warning boundary and a soft boundary located between the warning boundary and the primary geo-spatial operational boundaries; the soft boundary is at the minimum safe distance from the primary geo-spatial operational boundary.

4 . The geo-containment system of claim 3 , wherein:
the warning boundary is spaced apart from the primary geo-spatial operational boundary a distance that is equal to a scale factor times the minimum safe distance.

5 . The geo-containment system of claim 4 , wherein:
the control system is configured to generate a warning signal if the unmanned aircraft crosses the warning boundary.

6 . The geo-containment system of claim 5 , wherein:
the unmanned aircraft includes a control system that causes the unmanned aircraft to perform a contingency maneuver if a warning signal is generated by the control system.

7 . The geo-containment system of claim 6 , wherein:
the contingency maneuver includes causing the unmanned aircraft to: 1) turn; and/or 2) reduce altitude; and/or 3) reduce speed.

8 . The geo-containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the unmanned aircraft includes a first navigation system that is GPS-based, and a second navigation system that is GPS-independent.

9 . The geo-containment system of claim 8 , wherein:
the first navigation system provides a position of the unmanned aircraft during flight that is accurate to within a first error distance; the second navigation system provides a position of the unmanned aircraft during flight that is accurate to within a second error distance; and the allowable distance comprises the greater of the first and second error distances.

10 . The geo-containment system of claim 8 , wherein:
the second navigation system comprises a local positioning system that utilizes a plurality of ground-based beacons to determine a position of the unmanned aircraft in flight.

11 . The geo-containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the geo-spatial operational boundaries comprise at least one of a stay-in region and a stay-out region.

12 . The geo-containment system of claim 2 , wherein:
the unmanned aircraft includes a propulsion system that provides thrust; and the control system terminates operation of the unmanned aircraft by reducing the thrust of the propulsion system.

13 . The geo-containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the geo-containment system is configured to receive and evaluate a flight plan prior to flight of the unmanned aircraft; the geo-containment system is configured to determine if the flight plan will cause the unmanned aircraft to violate at least one of the primary geo-spatial operational boundary and the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

14 . The geo-containment system of claim 13 , wherein:
the unmanned aircraft includes a propulsion system; and the geo-containment system is configured to disable the propulsion system if the flight plan will cause the unmanned aircraft to violate at least one of the primary geo-spatial operational boundary and the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

15 . The geo-containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the primary geo-spatial operational boundary comprises a two-dimensional polygon defining at least one of a lateral boundary and a vertical boundary.

16 . A method of controlling an unmanned aircraft, the method comprising:
providing at least one unmanned aircraft; providing a primary geo-spatial operational boundary; determining at least one secondary geo-spatial operational boundary that is spaced apart from the primary geo-spatial operational boundary at a minimum safe distance, wherein the minimum safe distance is determined while the unmanned aircraft is in flight utilizing, at least in part: (1) state information of the unmanned aircraft including position and velocity of the unmanned aircraft, and (2) dynamics coefficients of the unmanned aircraft, and: altering operation of the unmanned aircraft if: (1) the unmanned aircraft crosses either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operation boundary; or (2) the unmanned aircraft moves to a position in which the unmanned aircraft is less than an allowable distance from either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

17 . The method of claim 16 , including:
terminating operation of the unmanned aircraft if the unmanned aircraft violates either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operation boundary by moving to a position in which the unmanned aircraft is less than an allowable distance from either the primary geo-spatial operational boundary or the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary.

18 . The method of claim 17 , including:
determining a location of a warning boundary, wherein the warning boundary is spaced apart from the primary geo-spatial operational boundary a distance that is greater than the minimum safe distance.

19 . The method of claim 18 , including:
generating a warning signal and/or causing the unmanned aircraft to perform a contingency maneuver if the unmanned aircraft crosses the warning boundary, wherein the contingency maneuver includes turning and/or reducing altitude and/or reducing speed.

20 . The method of claim 16 , including:
evaluating a flight plan prior to flight of the unmanned aircraft to determine if the flight plan will cause the unmanned aircraft to violate at least one of the primary geo-spatial operational boundary and the secondary geo-spatial operational boundary; and generating a warning and/or at least partially disabling the unmanned aircraft if the flight plan will cause the unmanned aircraft to violate at least one of the primary geo-spatial operational boundary and the

Assignees

• Nasa

Inventors

• Dill Evan T
• Smalling Kyle M
• Young Steven D
• Quach Cuong C
• Hayhurst Kelly J
• Narkawicz Anthony J

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• H04W4/021 Primary

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

• G05D1/0011

  associated with a remote control arrangement · CPC title

• B64C39/024

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title