Unmanned vehicle (UV) control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9567077-B2
Application number	US-201514619854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2015
Priority date	Feb 14, 2014
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

Unmanned vehicle (UV) control may include receiving a UV work order and generating a mission request based on the UV work order. The mission request may identify an objective of a mission, assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission. The assigned UV may be controlled according to the assigned first movement plan, and communication data may be received from the assigned sensor. The communication data may be analyzed to identify an event related to the mission. The identified event and the first movement plan may be analyzed to assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned vehicle (UV) control system comprising:
a fleet and mission operations controller, executed by at least one hardware processor, to receive a UV work order and to generate a mission request based on the UV work order, the mission request identifying an objective of a mission, assigning a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assigning a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;
a mission controller, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
control the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan, and
receive communication data from the assigned sensor, wherein the communication data includes telemetry data and video stream data; and

an event detector, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
receive the communication data that includes the telemetry data and the video stream data,
combine the telemetry data and the video stream data,
analyze the combined telemetry data and the video stream data to identify an event related to the mission, and
forward the identified event to the fleet and mission operations controller to
analyze the identified event and the first movement plan, and
assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan,

wherein the mission controller is to control the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan, and
wherein the fleet and mission operations controller and the event detector are hosted in an off-site facility relative to the assigned UV.

2. The UV control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a compliance evaluator, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
determine whether the mission request is compliant with at least one of regulations and safety parameters, and
in response to a determination that the mission request is compliant with the at least one of regulations and safety parameters, forward the mission request to the mission controller.

3. The UV control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a compliance evaluator, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
determine whether the assigned UV and a UV operation crew associated with the mission request is compliant with at least one of regulations and safety parameters, and
in response to a determination that the assigned UV and the UV operation crew associated with the mission request is compliant with the at least one of regulations and safety parameters, forward the mission request to the mission controller.

4. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the fleet of UVs includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

5. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the sensors include video cameras, gas detectors, infrared (IR) cameras, and pressure sensors.

6. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the first movement plan includes predefined way points and alternate points for the UV based on the identified objective of the mission, and
the second movement plan includes at least one different predefined way point from the predefined way points and at least one different alternate point from the alternate points for the UV based on the analysis of the identified event to meet the identified objective of the mission.

7. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a video camera, and
the mission controller is to
generate a real-time display from the video camera,
receive instructions to modify movement of the UV based on an analysis of the real-time display from the video camera, and
modify movement of the UV based on the received instructions.

8. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the UV is an autonomous UV.

9. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak or an intruder related to a pipeline.

10. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to
analyze the communication data to identify the event related to a pipeline, and
generate instructions for preventative actions with respect to the pipeline based on the identification of the event.

11. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the mission controller is to
analyze the event to determine a severity level of the event, and
generate a real-time display related to the event, wherein the real-time display includes a characterization of a type and the severity level of the event.

12. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to combine the telemetry data and the video stream data by
determining a number of frames per second for the video stream data,
determining, from the telemetry data, a time and a location associated with the video stream data, and
generating a meta tag for each of the frames of the video stream data, wherein the meta tag includes the time and the location associated with the video stream data.

13. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak by
converting the video stream data from red, green, and blue (RGB) into corresponding hue-saturation-values (HSVs) to adjust for variations in lighting conditions and shadows,
defining lower and upper bounds of the HSVs based on a type of material associated with the potential leak,
analyzing, based on the defined lower and upper bounds, each video frame associated with the video stream data to overlay shapes on each of the video frames associated with the video stream data, and
applying parameter constraints to determine whether an area of a video frame associated with the overlayed shapes represents the potential leak.

14. A method for unmanned vehicle (UV) control, the method comprising:
generating, by a fleet and mission operations controller that is executed by at least one hardware processor, a mission request to
identify an objective of a mission,
assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and
assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;

controlling, by a mission controller that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan;
receiving, by an event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, communication data that includes telemetry data and video stream data;
analyzing, by the event detector, the communication data from the assigned sensor by combining the telemetry data and the video stream data to identify an event related to the mission;
analyzing, by the fleet and mission operations controller, the identified event and the first movement plan;
assigning, by the fleet and mission operations controller, a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan; and
controlling, by the mission controller, the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan.

15. The method for UV control according to claim 14 , wherein analyzing, by the event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the communication data

Assignees

• Accenture Global Services Ltd

Inventors

• Mullan Pramila
• Negm Walid
• Liongosari Edy S
• Barsamian Paul
• Richards Brian
• Kim Sang-Ik
• Mui Michael
• Fenney Robert

Classifications

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · 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