Technology is disclosed herein for operating a tasking service for UAVs. In an implementation, a tasking service receives task parameters which includes a desired state of the UAVs for performing a task and service information associated with performing the task. The tasking service continuously receives state information from the UAVs which identifies a present state of the UAVs and continuously evaluates the present state of the UAVs with respect to the desired state. When the present state of an UAV matches the desired state, the tasking service assigns the task to the UAV and provides the service information to the UAV. In an implementation, the tasking service receives task parameters via an application programming interface from a client application in communication with the tasking service.
Technology is disclosed herein for a method of operating a UAV as an access point for communication with one or more ground controllers and/or one or more other UAVs. In an implementation, a UAV establishes a connection, including an uplink and downlink, between the UAV and a ground controller such that the UAV is an access point with respect to the ground controller. The connection is established in accordance with a wireless protocol that divides the RF spectrum into bands of resource units with respect to uplinks and downlinks between access points and non-access points. The UAV identifies a single resource unit (RU) to support uplink traffic and instructs the ground controller to transmit uplink traffic on the single resource unit. The UAV receives uplink traffic from the ground controller on the single resource unit.
A base station for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is disclosed. The base station includes: an enclosure; a slide mechanism that is connected to the enclosure and which is repositionable between a retracted position and an extended position; a cradle that is connected to the slide mechanism and which is configured for docking with the UAV such that the UAV is movable into and out of the enclosure during repositioning of the slide mechanism between the retracted position and the extended position; and a charging hub that is connected to the slide mechanism and which is configured for electrical connection to a power source of the UAV to charge the power source.
A calibration of an unmanned aerial vehicle is performed without the use of a magnetometer. The unmanned aerial vehicle generates a first acceleration vector in a navigation frame of reference and a second acceleration vector in a GPS frame of reference. The unmanned aerial vehicle estimates a heading of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the first acceleration vector and the second acceleration vector. The unmanned aerial vehicle performs a calibration based on the estimated heading of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
G01C 21/16 - Navigation; Navigational instruments not provided for in groups by using measurement of speed or acceleration executed aboard the object being navigated; Dead reckoning by integrating acceleration or speed, i.e. inertial navigation
G01C 21/20 - Instruments for performing navigational calculations
G01C 25/00 - Manufacturing, calibrating, cleaning, or repairing instruments or devices referred to in the other groups of this subclass
B64C 39/02 - Aircraft not otherwise provided for characterised by special use
G01S 19/23 - Testing, monitoring, correcting or calibrating of a receiver element
G01S 19/49 - Determining position by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
5.
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE FLIGHT CONTROL FOR CHASING A MOVING TARGET EQUIPPED WITH A TRACKABLE BEACON
An unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control system and an electromechanical system directed by the flight control system. The flight control system is configured to track a position of a beacon that is in motion and monitor a difference between an actual position of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a desired position of the unmanned aerial vehicle relative to the position of the beacon. The flight control system configures one or more flight objectives based on one or more factors comprising whether the difference between the actual position and the desired position exceeds a threshold, wherein the flight objectives comprise a velocity objective and a position objective. The flight control system also commands the electromechanical system based at least on the one or more flight objectives.
Technology for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, (101) is disclosed herein that allows the UAV to be flown along a computed spline, while also accommodating in-flight modifications. In various implementations, a UAV includes a flight control subsystem (124) and an electromechanical subsystem (126). The flight control subsystem (124) records keyframes during flight and computes a spline based on the keyframes. The flight control subsystem (124) then saves the computed spline for playback, at which time the UAV automatically flies in accordance with the computed spline.
In some examples, a system may receive, from a first user, a request to create a team folder from a folder associated with the first user. The request may indicate a requested storage quota from a team folder storage pool to associate with the team folder. The system may determine whether the requested storage quota is below a threshold amount corresponding to a profile for team folder creation associated with the first user. If the requested storage quota is below the threshold amount, the system may automatically create a shared file system for the team folder and allocate a quantity of storage from the team folder storage pool to the shared file system based on the requested storage quota. Alternatively, if the requested storage quota exceeds the threshold amount, the system may generate a communication to an administrator to request approval for creation of the team folder.
A base station is disclosed for use with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The base station includes: an enclosure; a cradle that is configured to charge a power source of the UAV during docking with the base station; and a temperature control system that is connected to the cradle and which is configured to vary temperature of the power source of the UAV. The temperature control system includes: a thermoelectric conditioner (TEC); a first air circuit that is thermally connected to the TEC and which is configured to regulate temperature of the TEC; and a second air circuit that is thermally connected to the TEC such that the TEC is located between the first air circuit and the second air circuit. The second air circuit is configured to direct air across the cradle to thereby heat or cool the power source of the UAV when docked with the base station.
Described herein are systems and methods using a security key for an unmanned aerial vehicle. For example, some methods include during flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle, encrypting, using a public key stored by the unmanned aerial vehicle, a symmetric key that is used to encrypt media data captured using one or more sensors of the unmanned aerial vehicle to obtain encrypted media data; landing the unmanned aerial vehicle; connecting a key device to the unmanned aerial vehicle via a serial port connector of the key device and a serial port connector of the unmanned aerial vehicle; while the key device is connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle, decrypting, using a private key stored on the key device, the encrypted symmetric key, which in turn is used to decrypt a portion of the encrypted media data to obtain decrypted media data; and transmitting a portion of the decrypted media data.
Autonomous aerial navigation in low-light and no-light conditions includes using night mode obstacle avoidance intelligence and mechanisms for vision-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation to enable autonomous flight operations of a UAV in low-light and no-light environments using infrared data.
In some examples, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) employs one or more image sensors to capture images of a scan target and may use distance information from the images for determining respective locations in three-dimensional (3D) space of a plurality of points of a 3D model representative of a surface of the scan target. The UAV may compare a first image with a second image to determine a difference between a current frame of reference position for the UAV and an estimate of an actual frame of reference position for the UAV. Further, based at least on the difference, the UAV may determine, while the UAV is in flight, an update to the 3D model including at least one of an updated location of at least one point in the 3D model, or a location of a new point in the 3D model.
The technology described herein relates to autonomous aerial vehicle technology and, more specifically, to autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle with folding collapsible arms. In some embodiments, a UAV including a central body, a plurality of rotor arms, and a plurality of hinge mechanisms is disclosed. The plurality of rotor arms each include a rotor unit at a distal end of the rotor arm. The rotor units are configured to provide propulsion for the UAV. The plurality of hinge mechanisms mechanically attach (or couple) proximal ends of the plurality of rotor arms to the central body. Each hinge mechanism is configured to rotate a respective rotor arm of the plurality of rotor arms about an axis of rotation that is at an oblique angle relative to a vertical median plane of the central body to transition between an extended state and a folded state.
Described herein are systems and methods for structure scan using an unmanned aerial vehicle. For example, some methods include accessing a three-dimensional map of a structure; generating facets based on the three-dimensional map, wherein the facets are respectively a polygon on a plane in three-dimensional space that is fit to a subset of the points in the three-dimensional map; generating a scan plan based on the facets, wherein the scan plan includes a sequence of poses for an unmanned aerial vehicle to assume to enable capture, using image sensors of the unmanned aerial vehicle, of images of the structure; causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to assume a pose corresponding to one of the sequence of poses of the scan plan; and capturing one or more images of the structure from the pose.
Described herein are systems for automated docking of an unmanned aerial vehicle. For example, some systems include an unmanned aerial vehicle including a propulsion mechanism, an image sensor, and processing apparatus; and a dock including a landing surface configured to hold the unmanned aerial vehicle and a fiducial on the landing surface, wherein the processing apparatus is configured to: control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to a first location in a vicinity of the dock; access one or more images captured using the image sensor; detect the fiducial in at least one of the one or more images; determine a pose of the fiducial based on the one or more images; and control, based on the pose of the fiducial, the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to land on the landing surface.
Described herein are systems for the production, communication, routing, service, authentication, and consumption of cryptographically authenticable contextual content produced by cryptographically authenticable devices; example implementations of the architecture for a Trusted Contextual Content Device which produces Trusted Contextual Content; and example implementations of the architecture for a Trusted Drone Device which produces Trusted Contextual Content. For example, some of the methods used may include accessing a first set of sensor data from one or more sensors; receiving, a first trusted contextual content that includes a first digital signature; generating a data structure including the first trusted contextual content and data based on the first set of sensor data, signing the data structure using a signing key to generate a second trusted contextual content including a second digital signature; and storing or transmitting the second trusted contextual content.
G06F 21/71 - Protecting specific internal or peripheral components, in which the protection of a component leads to protection of the entire computer to assure secure computing or processing of information
G06F 21/62 - Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
H04N 21/4367 - Establishing a secure communication between the client and a peripheral device or smart card
An introduced autonomous aerial vehicle can include multiple cameras for capturing images of a surrounding physical environment that are utilized for motion planning by an autonomous navigation system. In some embodiments, the cameras can be integrated into one or more rotor assemblies that house powered rotors to free up space within the body of the aerial vehicle. In an example embodiment, an aerial vehicle includes multiple upward-facing cameras and multiple downward-facing cameras with overlapping fields of view to enable stereoscopic computer vision in a plurality of directions around the aerial vehicle. Similar camera arrangements can also be implemented in fixed-wing aerial vehicles.
A technique is introduced for autonomous landing by an aerial vehicle. In some embodiments, the introduced technique includes processing a sensor data such as images captured by onboard cameras to generate a ground map comprising multiple cells. A suitable footprint, comprising a subset of the multiple cells in the ground map that satisfy one or more landing criteria, is selected and control commands are generated to cause the aerial vehicle to autonomously land on an area corresponding to the footprint. In some embodiments, the introduced technique involves a geometric smart landing process to select a relatively flat area on the ground for landing. In some embodiments, the introduced technique involves a semantic smart landing process where semantic information regarding detected objects is incorporated into the ground map.
Methods and systems are described for new paradigms for user interaction with an unmanned aerial vehicle (referred to as a flying digital assistant or FDA) using a portable multifunction device (PMD) such as smart phone. In some embodiments, a magic wand user interaction paradigm is described for intuitive control of an FDA using a PMD. In other embodiments, methods for scripting a shot are described.
G01C 21/16 - Navigation; Navigational instruments not provided for in groups by using measurement of speed or acceleration executed aboard the object being navigated; Dead reckoning by integrating acceleration or speed, i.e. inertial navigation
G01C 23/00 - Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
G05D 1/00 - Control of position, course, altitude, or attitude of land, water, air, or space vehicles, e.g. automatic pilot
G06F 3/033 - Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user; Accessories therefor
G06F 3/042 - Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by opto-electronic means
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