Direction finding in autonomous vehicle systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020005656-A1
Application number	US-201916569675-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 13, 2019
Priority date	Sep 13, 2019
Publication date	Jan 2, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Devices and methods are provided for determining a location independent of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal in autonomous vehicles, especially in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). An exemplary device includes one or more receivers or sensors configured to receive first information, wherein the one or more receivers or sensors is configured to obtain at least a subset of the first information from an external source, wherein at least a first of the one of the one or more receivers or sensors includes a transceiver configured to communicate with other UAVs in a first subset of UAVs. The exemplary device also includes one or more processors configured to share the first information with at least a one other UAV in the first subset, receive second information from the other UAV, and determine a path to the first location based on at least the second information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A device, for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), configured to determine a location, the device comprising:
one or more receivers or sensors configured to receive first information, wherein at least a first of the one or more receivers or sensors is configured to obtain at least a first component of the first information from an external source, wherein one of the one or more receivers or sensors comprises a transceiver configured to communicate with one or more other UAVs in a first subset inclusive of the UAV; and one or more processors configured to: share the first information with at least a first of the one or more UAVs in the first subset and receive second information from at least the first of the one or more UAVs in response to the sharing of the first information; and determine a path to the location based on at least the second information.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to determine the location independent of guidance from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or an ultra-wideband (UWB) system.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the path to the location is based on the first information in addition to the second information.

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UAV is configured to exclusively share the first information with the at least a first of the one or more other UAVs in the first subset and not share the first information directly with a second subset of UAVs.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the second information comprises a calculation of the location determined by the at least the first of the one or more UAVs in the first subset.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the second information comprises a command to perform a calculation based on a subset of the first information received at each of the one or more other UAVs in the first subset.

7 . The device of claim 6 , wherein the UAV is configured to share results of the performed calculation with at least the first of the one or more UAVs in the first subset.

8 . The device of claim 7 , wherein one or more processors are configured to receive third information from the at least the first of the one or more UAVs, the third information comprising results of calculations performed at each of the other UAVs in the first subset.

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein there is at least one additional external source, wherein the first of the one or more receivers is configured to receive an additional subset of the first information from each of the at least one additional external sources.

10 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the external source is a radio frequency (RF) beacon.

11 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the external source is a light beacon.

12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers or sensors comprises a directional sensor comprising at least one of a light sensor, camera, magnetometer, barometer, motion detector, infrared detector or sensor, or compass configured to obtain a second component of the first information, and a second component of the first information is provided by the directional sensor.

13 . The device of claim 1 , the one or more processors configured to direct the UAV to the location via the path.

14 . A device, for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of a first subset of a plurality of UAVs, configured to determine a location, the device comprising:
one or more receivers or sensors configured to receive first information, each of the one or more receivers or sensors configured to obtain at least a first component of the first information from a source external to the first subset of the plurality of UAVs, wherein one of the one or more receivers or sensors comprises a transceiver configured to communicate with each of the other UAVs in the first subset; and one or more processors configured to: receive a respective first information from each of other UAVs in the first subset; determine second information based on a combination of the respective information from each of the other UAVs in the first subset of the plurality of UAVs and the first information; and communicate the second information to each of the other UAVs in the first subset, wherein the second information is indicative of the location.

15 . The device of claim 14 , wherein the device is configured to determine the location independent of guidance from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or an ultra-wideband (UWB) system.

16 . The device of claim 14 , the one or more processors configured to coordinate a flight path of each of the other UAVs in the first subset to the location.

17 . The device of claim 14 , the one or more processors configured to communicate with another device in a second subset of the plurality of UAVs, the second subset of the plurality of UAVs being distinct from the first subset of the plurality of UAVs.

18 . A direction finding system configured to direct at least a first subset of a plurality of autonomous vehicles to a location without global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or ultra-wideband (UWB) system guidance, wherein the direction finding system comprises:
one or more detectors configured to monitor a configuration of the plurality of autonomous vehicles; one or more processors configured to receive the configuration from the one or more detectors and determine an instruction to transmit to at least the first subset of the plurality of autonomous vehicles; and a plurality of indicator lights each configured to transmit at least a subset of the instruction to at least the first subset of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to direct the at least first subset of autonomous vehicles to the location without GNSS guidance or an ultra-wideband (UWB) guidance.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of indicator lights are configured to transmit at least the subset of the instruction by changing at least one of a pattern, intensity, color, or pulse pattern of one or more of the plurality of indicator lights.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein upon detecting a change in the configuration of the plurality of autonomous vehicles via the one or more detectors, the one or more processors are configured to determine an updated instruction to transmit to the at least the first subset of the plurality of autonomous vehicles and change at least one of the pattern, intensity, color, or pulse pattern of one or more of the plurality of indicator lights to transmit the updated instruction.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Saunamaeki Esa

Classifications

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/102

  adapted for flying in formations · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

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

• B64D47/02

  Arrangements or adaptations of signal or lighting devices · CPC title

• G05D1/104

  involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying (traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00) · CPC title