Patent classifications
G08G5/80
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING AN AIRCRAFT TRAJECTORY
Systems and methods of the present invention are provided to generate a plurality of flight trajectories that do not conflict with other aircraft in a local area. Interventions by an air traffic control system help prevent collisions between aircraft, but these interventions can also cause an aircraft to substantially deviate from the pilot's intended flight trajectory, which burns fuels, wastes time, etc. Systems and methods of the present invention can assign a standard avoidance interval to other aircraft in the area such that a pilot's aircraft does not receive an intervention by an air traffic control system. Systems and methods of the present invention also generate a plurality of conflict-free flight trajectories such that a pilot or an automated system may select the most desirable flight trajectory for fuel efficiency, speed, and other operational considerations, etc.
Wearable aircraft towing collision warning devices and methods
The disclosed embodiments describe collision warning devices, controllers, and computer readable media. A collision warning device for towing vehicles includes a housing, a scanning sensor, a display, and a controller. The housing is configured to be secured to at least one of a tow operator and a tug during aircraft towing operations. The a scanning sensor is secured to the housing and is configured to scan an aircraft and to scan an object in an environment surrounding the aircraft. The controller is mounted to the housing and is operably coupled with the scanning sensor and the display. The controller is configured to generate a three dimensional (3D) model of the aircraft and the environment based on a signal output from the scanning sensor, and to calculate potential collisions between the aircraft and the object based on the 3D model.
Distributed airborne transportation system
Embodiments of the present invention provide an alternative distributed airborne transportation system. In some embodiments, a method for distributed airborne transportation includes: providing an airborne vehicle with a wing and a wing span, having capacity to carry one or more of passengers or cargo; landing of the airborne vehicle near one or more of passengers or cargo and loading at least one of passengers or cargo; taking-off and determining a flight direction for the airborne vehicle; locating at least one other airborne vehicle, which has substantially the same flight direction; and joining at least one other airborne vehicle in flight formation and forming a fleet, in which airborne vehicles fly with the same speed and direction and in which adjacent airborne vehicles are separated by distance of less than 100 wing spans.
Unmanned vehicles, systems, apparatus and methods for controlling unmanned vehicles
An unmanned vehicle for use with an entity physically spaced from the unmanned vehicle, the unmanned vehicle having objective parameters corresponding to controlled parameters of the entity. The unmanned vehicle comprises a transceiver that is configured to wirelessly receive an input signal from the entity, wherein the input signal is indicative of the controlled parameters of the entity. The unmanned vehicle further comprises a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) circuit that is configured to generate a command signal based on a phase of the input signal and a phase of a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is indicative of the objective parameters of the unmanned vehicle. The transceiver is further configured to wirelessly transmit the command signal to the entity such that the entity controls the controlled parameters of the entity based on the command signal.
Flight hindrance display apparatus, flight hindrance display method, and computer-readable medium
A flight hindrance display apparatus includes circuitry. The circuitry is configured to acquire surrounding information of an aircraft. The surrounding information is related to a hindrance factor which is a possible flight hindrance to the aircraft. The circuitry is configured to determine a spatial range of the flight hindrance factor on a basis of the acquired surrounding information. The circuitry is configured to determine a flight hindrance cross-section that intersects a plane including a vector of a flight direction of the aircraft and is included in the determined spatial range of the flight hindrance factor. The circuitry is configured to cause a display unit to stereoscopically display an own position of the aircraft, the spatial range of the flight hindrance factor, and the flight hindrance cross-section.
Coordinating a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be deployed in a region under a set of constraints
A method for coordinating deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within a designated region involves obtaining constraint data that specifies the operational limitations under which the UAVs are allowed to operate. A cost function is defined, having a set of cost terms corresponding to these constraints, including a term for the energy consumption of each UAV. This energy consumption is the power required by each UAV to travel from a source to a destination along a prescribed flight path. The method includes executing a UAV-capacity maximization function that generates flight paths for the UAVs based on the cost function, which adjusts the flight paths to minimize the total energy consumed while ensuring that the UAVs do not breach the operational constraints.
Method and system for resolving multi-operator distributed cooperative conflict of unmanned air vehicle
A method and system for resolving a multi-operator distributed collaborative conflict of an unmanned air vehicle is disclosed, including: resolving a conflict in a strategic stage: generating multidimensional data based on time and spatial elements, rasterizing the multidimensional data, performing preliminary conflict resolution according to a preset airspace and an airspace requirement after rasterizing, and generating strategy approval information; and completing strategy conflict resolution by checking the strategy information; resolving a conflict in a pre-tactical stage: acquiring flight plan approval information, designating checking parties, performing multiple checks on the flight plan information, and performing judgment in combination with checking results of a plurality of checking parties to generate a conflict checking result; and resolving a conflict in a tactical stage: identifying a trajectory deviation according to real-time flight data, and sending out a warning according to a deviation category; and optimizing a path according to the deviated trajectory.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT OF AIRSPACE FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
A system and method for management of airspace for unmanned aircraft is disclosed. The system and method comprises administration of the airspace including designation of flyways and zones with reference to features in the region. The system and method comprises administration of aircraft including registration of aircraft and mission. A monitoring system tracks conditions and aircraft traffic in the airspace. Aircraft may be configured to transact with the management system including to obtain rights/priority by license and to operate in the airspace under direction of the system. The system and aircraft may be configured for dynamic transactions (e.g. licensing/routing). The system will set rates for licenses and use/access to the airspace and aircraft will be billed/pay for use/access of the airspace at rates using data from data sources.
Electronic device and unmanned aerial vehicle control method
An electronic device including a processing unit and a storage device receives digital images of a flight area of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) captured by an image capturing device. Then, the processing unit determines a flight position of the UAV in the flight area based on the digital images, and controls the UAV to move from the flight position to a predetermined position. The processing unit receives a vehicle direction of the UAV from an electronic compass unit of the UAV, and adjusts the vehicle direction of the UAV based on a predetermined direction. The processing unit controls the UAV to perform a predetermined operation when the UAV reaches the predetermined position and the vehicle direction is the same as the predetermined direction.
UNMANNED VEHICLE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNALS
Some embodiments are directed to an unmanned vehicle for transmitting signals. The unmanned vehicle includes a transmitting unit that is configured to transmit a signal towards an object. The unmanned vehicle also includes a control unit that is in communication with at least one companion unmanned vehicle. The control unit is configured to determine a position of the at least one companion unmanned vehicle relative to the unmanned vehicle. The control unit is further configured to control the transmitting element based on at least the position of the at least one unmanned vehicle such that the transmitting element forms a phased-array transmitter with a transmitting element of the at least one companion unnamed vehicle, the phased-array transmitter emitting a transmission beam in a predetermined direction.