Systems and methods for remote distributed control of unmanned aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9933780-B2
Application number	US-201514741888-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 17, 2015
Priority date	Jun 17, 2015
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for providing control of an unmanned aircraft (UA). A server may receive an indication from a UA that a transition from autonomous flight to pilot controlled flight is required while the UA is in autonomous flight. The server may select a pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA. Selecting a pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA may be based on a pilot criterion associated with the pilot station. A UA may detect a condition that requires a transition from autonomous flight to pilot controlled flight and establish a pilot criterion for pilot controlled flight based on the detected condition. The UA may send a request for a pilot that includes the pilot criterion and information about the condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for selecting a pilot to take control of an unmanned aircraft (UA), comprising:
receiving, by a server, an indication from the UA in autonomous flight that a transition condition is detected, wherein the transition condition comprises at least one of a plurality of conditions that require the UA to transition from autonomous flight to pilot controlled flight;
determining, by the server, a set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition, wherein the set of pilot selection criteria enables selection of a pilot at a pilot station that is capable of providing pilot controlled flight of the UA under the detected transition condition, and wherein the set of pilot selection criteria comprises one or more of an overall length of pilot experience, a length of pilot experience in piloting unmanned aircraft under the detected condition, a length of pilot experience associated with the UA, a pilot physical condition, a pilot mental condition, a pilot flight recency, a pilot flight certification status, a pilot medical certification status, a pilot incident history, or a pilot crash history; and
selecting, by the server, the pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
linking, by the server, the selected pilot station to the UA; and
relaying, by the server, flight control feedback data from the UA to the selected pilot station and flight control data from the selected pilot station to the UA.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition further comprises one or more of:
a pilot affiliation;
a pilot qualification;
a pilot ready status;
a pilot availability status;
a geographic proximity of the pilot to the UA; or
a quality of a network connection of the pilot.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected transition condition comprises one or more of:
a weather condition;
a geographic condition;
a visibility condition;
a UA mechanical condition;
a UA instrument condition;
a communication link quality condition;
a mission requirement condition;
a UA type; or
a UA characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting, by the server, the pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition comprises:
selecting, by the server, one or more pilot candidates to pilot the UA based on the pilot selection criteria; and
transmitting, by the server, a mission offer to the one or more pilot candidates to pilot the UA.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, by the server, an acceptance from any of the one or more pilot candidates that are accepting the mission offer to pilot the UA; and
selecting, by the server, a pilot candidate from among the one or more pilot candidates that are accepting the mission offer to pilot the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition.

7. An apparatus for managing selecting a pilot to take control of an unmanned aircraft (UA), comprising:
a transceiver; and
a server processor coupled to the transceiver, the server processor configured with processor-executable instructions to:
receive an indication from the UA in autonomous flight that a transition condition is detected, wherein the transition condition comprises at least one of a plurality of conditions that require the UA to transition from autonomous flight to pilot controlled flight;
determine a set of pilot selection criteria that correspond to the detected transition condition, wherein the set of pilot selection criteria enables selection of a pilot at a pilot station that is capable of providing pilot controlled flight of the UA under the detected transition condition, and wherein the set of pilot selection criteria comprises one or more of an overall length of pilot experience, a length of pilot experience in piloting unmanned aircraft under the detected condition, a length of pilot experience associated with the UA, a pilot physical condition, a pilot mental condition, a pilot flight recency, a pilot flight certification status, a pilot medical certification status, a pilot incident history, or a pilot crash history; and
select the pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the server processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to:
link the selected pilot station to the UA; and
relay flight control feedback data from the UA to the selected pilot station and flight control data from the selected pilot station to the UA.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition further comprises one or more of:
a pilot affiliation;
a pilot qualification;
a pilot ready status;
a pilot availability status;
a geographic proximity of the pilot to the UA; or
a quality of a network connection of the pilot.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the detected transition condition comprises one or more of:
a weather condition;
a geographic condition;
a visibility condition;
a UA mechanical condition;
a UA instrument condition;
a communication link quality condition;
a mission requirement condition;
a UA type; or
a UA characteristic.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the server processor is configured with processor-executable instructions for performing operations such that selecting the pilot station for providing pilot controlled flight of the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition comprises:
selecting one or more pilot candidates to pilot the UA based on the pilot selection criteria; and
transmitting a mission offer to the one or more pilot candidates to pilot the UA.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the server processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to:
receive an acceptance from any of the one or more pilot candidates that are accepting the mission offer to pilot the UA; and
select a pilot candidate from among the one or more pilot candidates that are accepting the mission offer to pilot the UA based on the set of pilot selection criteria that correspond to the detected transition condition.

13. A method for facilitating a selection of a pilot to take control of an unmanned aircraft (UA), comprising:
detecting, by the UA, a transition condition, wherein the transition condition comprises at least one of a plurality of conditions that require the UA to transition from autonomous flight to pilot controlled flight; and
determining, by the UA, a set of pilot selection criteria that corresponds to the detected transition condition, wherein the set of pilot selection criteria enables selection of a pilot at a pilot station that is capable of providing pilot controlled flight of the UA under the detected transition condition, and wherein the set of pilot selection criteria comprises one or more of an overall length of pilot experience, a length of pilot experience in piloting unmanned aircraft under the detected condition, a length of pilot experience associated with the UA, a pilot physical condition, a pilot mental condition, a pilot flight recency, a pilot flight certific

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Chau Kiet Tuan
• Canoy Michael-David Nakayoshi
• Devico Michael Orlando

Classifications

• G05D1/0088

  characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours (using knowledge based models G06N5/00) · CPC title

• G05D1/0061 Primary

  for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa · CPC title

• G05D1/0011

  associated with a remote control arrangement · CPC title

• G05D1/0022 Primary

  characterised by the communication link (data switching networks in general H04L12/00) · CPC title

• G05D2101/10

  using artificial intelligence [AI] techniques · CPC title