Base station control for an unoccupied flying vehicle (UFV)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9567074-B2
Application number	US-201213730202-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2012
Priority date	Dec 19, 2012
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed herein are example embodiments for base station control for an unoccupied flying vehicle (UFV). For certain example embodiments, at least one machine, such as a base station, may: (i) obtain at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV; or (ii) transmit to a second UFV at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV. However, claimed subject matter is not limited to any particular described embodiments, implementations, examples, or so forth.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process comprising:
controlling at least one unoccupied flying vehicle (UFV) from a base station including at least:
obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV;
receiving at least one message from a second UFV, the at least one message autonomously formulated by the second UFV and including at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV;
autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV including at least analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and the autonomously formulated at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV, determining one or more flight control decisions based at least partially on the analysis, and formulating the at least one command based at least partially on the determined one or more flight control decisions; and
transmitting the at least one command to the second UFV, wherein at least one of the obtaining at least one indicator, the receiving at least one message, the autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions, or the transmitting the at least one command is at least partially implemented using one or more processing devices.

2. A base station comprising:
at least one electronic device including at least:
circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first unoccupied flying vehicle (UFV);
circuitry configured for receiving at least one message from a second UFV, the at least one message autonomously formulated by the second UFV and including at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV;
circuitry configured for autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV including at least analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and the autonomously formulated at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV, determining one or more flight control decisions based at least partially on the analysis, and formulating the at least one command based at least partially on the determined one or more flight control decisions; and
circuitry configured for transmitting the at least one command to the second UFV.

3. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV comprises:
circuitry configured for obtaining the at least one indicator of the at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV, the first UFV being at least partially responsive to one or more flight control commands received from the base station.

4. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV comprises:
circuitry configured for obtaining the at least one indicator of the at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV, the first UFV being unresponsive to flight control commands originating from the base station.

5. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV comprises:
circuitry configured for receiving from the first UFV the at least one indicator of the at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV.

6. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV comprises:
circuitry configured for determining the at least one indicator of the at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV based at least partially on one or more values.

7. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to a first UFV comprises:
circuitry configured for transmitting to the second UFV the at least one indicator of the at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV, the base station having at least partial flight control authority over the first UFV but not over the second UFV.

8. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV includes:
circuitry configured for analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and the autonomously formulated at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV wherein the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV includes at least one flight characteristic representative of at least one flight attribute that is changeable by the first UFV to adjust a flight path of the first UFV, determining one or more flight control decisions based at least partially on the analysis, and formulating the at least one command based at least partially on the determined one or more flight control decisions.

9. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV includes:
circuitry configured for analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and the autonomously formulated at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV, determining flight control authority over at least the first UFV and the second UFV wherein the base station is allocated at least partial flight control authority over the second UFV but not over the first UFV based at least partially on the analysis, and formulating the at least one command based at least partially on the determined flight control authority.

10. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV includes:
circuitry configured for analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and the autonomously formulated at least one flight adjustment request for adjusting a flight path of at least one of the first UFV or the second UFV wherein the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV includes at least one indicator of a position of the first UFV, determining one or more flight control decisions based at least partially on the analysis, and formulating the at least one command based at least partially on the determined one or more flight control decisions wherein the at least one command includes the at least one indicator of a position of the first UFV.

11. The base station of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry configured for autonomously formulating at least one command directing one or more flight control decisions for at least the second UFV includes:
circuitry configured for analyzing the at least one indicator of at least one flight attribute corresponding to the first UFV and t

Assignees

• Elwha Llc A Ltd Liability Corp State Delaware
• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Levien Royce A
• Lord Robert W
• Lord Richard T
• Malamud Mark A
• Rinaldo Jr John D
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• B64U2201/102

  adapted for flying in formations · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · 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

• B64C2201/143

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B64C2201/141

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic