Fiducial-based navigation of unmanned vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9964951-B1
Application number	US-201514866760-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 25, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2015
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

Techniques for facilitating an autonomous operation, such as an autonomous navigation, of an unmanned vehicle based on one or more fiducials. For example, image data of a fiducial may be generated with an optical sensor of the unmanned vehicle. The image data may be analyzed to determine a location of the fiducial. A location of the unmanned vehicle may be estimated from the location of the fiducial and the image. The autonomous navigation of the unmanned vehicle may be directed based on the estimated location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a first fiducial located at a first location and encoding information about the first location and about a dimension of the first fiducial; and
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
an imaging device configured to capture a first image of the first fiducial;
a navigation sensor configured to generate navigation data; and
a computer system configured to:
generate a navigation state of the UAV based at least in part on the navigation data;
direct an autonomous flight of the UAV to deliver an item from a source to a destination based at least in part on the navigation state;
analyze the first image of the first fiducial to determine the information about the first location and the dimension of the first fiducial;
estimate a location of the UAV based at least in part on the information about the first location and the dimension of the first fiducial determined from the first image, wherein estimating the location of the UAV comprises estimating one or more of: a latitude, a longitude, or an altitude based at least in part on a geometric reconstruction of the latitude, the longitude, or the altitude from the first location and the dimension of the first fiducial; and
update the navigation state based at least in part on the location of the UAV.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first location of the first fiducial represents a waypoint of a delivery route that is generated based at least in part on the source and the destination, and wherein the first fiducial comprises a multi-dimensional barcode that encodes the information about the first location and about the size.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a second fiducial located at a second location, wherein the first fiducial encodes information about the second location, and wherein the computer system of the UAV is further configured to:
determine the second location from the first image of the first fiducial;
direct the autonomous flight of the UAV based at least in part on the second location;
analyze a second image of the second fiducial to determine an offset from the navigation data; and
update the navigation state based at least in part on the offset.

4. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
accessing, by a computer system, image data of a fiducial, the image data detected based at least in part on an optical sensor of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
determining, by the computer system, a first location and a dimension of the fiducial based at least in part on the image data, the fiducial associated with information about the first location and the dimension of the fiducial;
estimating, by the computer system, a location of the UAV based at least in part on the first location of the fiducial, wherein estimating the location of the UAV comprises estimating one or more of: a latitude, a longitude, or an altitude based at least in part on a geometric reconstruction of the latitude, the longitude, or the altitude from the first location and the dimension of the fiducial; and
directing, by the computer system, an autonomous navigation of the UAV based at least in part on the location of the UAV.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the UAV is configured to deliver an item offered from an electronic marketplace, wherein directing the autonomous navigation comprising updating a navigation state of the UAV based at least in part on the location of the UAV, and wherein the fiducial encodes information about the first location and about a dimension of the fiducial.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving navigation data of a navigation device of the UAV;
generating a navigation state based at least in part on the navigation data;
determining an offset associated with the navigation data based at least in part on the location; and
directing the autonomous navigation of the UAV based at least in part on the navigation state and the offset.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the autonomous navigation is based at least in part on a predetermined navigation route, wherein the fiducial represents a waypoint of the navigation route, and further comprising updating the predetermined navigation route based at least in part on the location of the UAV.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the autonomous navigation is based at least in part on a navigation state, and further comprising:
generating a plurality of images of the fiducial based at least in part on the optical sensor of the UAV;
analyzing the plurality of images to determine the location of the UAV over time and to update the navigation state based at least in part on the location over time;
determining that a second fiducial has entered a field of view of the optical sensor of the UAV while the fiducial has remained in the field of view;
generating a plurality of second images of the second fiducial based at least in part on the fiducial exiting the field of view; and
analyzing the plurality of second images to further update the navigation state.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the autonomous navigation is based at least in part on a route that identifies the fiducial and a second fiducial, and further comprising:
determining that the fiducial is out of a field of view of the optical sensor of the UAV;
maintaining the navigation state based at least in part on the fiducial being out of the field of view;
directing the autonomous navigation of the UAV based at least in part on the route and based at least in part on the navigation state being maintained;
determining that the second fiducial is within the field of view of the optical sensor of the unmanned vehicle;
analyzing second image data of the second fiducial to determine an updated location of the unmanned vehicle; and
updating the navigation state based at least in part on the updated location of the unmanned vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein determining the first location of the fiducial comprises:
determining an identifier of the fiducial based at least in part on an analysis of the image data; and
accessing the first location of the fiducial from a data store based at least in part on the identifier of the fiducial, wherein the data store associates fiducials with corresponding locations.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the associations of the fiducials with the corresponding locations are maintained by a central station, wherein the central station is configured to receive a plurality of images of the fiducial from a plurality of UAVs and to associate a credibility to the fiducial based at least in part on the plurality of images, and wherein estimating the location of the UAV is based at least in part on the credibility associated with the fiducial.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein determining the first location of the fiducial comprises:
determining an identifier of the fiducial based at least in part on an analysis of the image data;
providing the identifier of the fiducial to a second UAV; and
receiving the first location from the second UAV based at least in part on the identifier.

13. A system associated with an unmanned vehicle that comprises a navigation device and an optical sensor, the system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions that, when executed with the one or more processors, cause the system to at least:
generate a navigation state of the unmanned vehicle based at least in par

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Dunn Steven Gregory
• Kelso Carl Ryan
• Woodward Iii Neil Whitney

Classifications

• G06V20/17

  taken from planes or by drones · 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

• G06V10/245 Primary

  by locating a pattern; Special marks for positioning · CPC title

• G06V20/13

  Satellite images · CPC title

• G06T2207/30204

  Marker · CPC title