Augmenting UAV flight data with regulatory alert

Abstract

Flight data of an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV is determined while the unmanned aerial vehicle is under control of a remote pilot. An overlay that describes the flight data is generated. Further, an alert indication is generated on the condition of deviation of the UAV from center of view.

Description

Augmenting UAV Flight Data with Regulatory AlertFIELD

[0001] The present disclosure related to remote piloting of unmanned aerial vehicles.BACKGROUND

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs)) are useful for flights that do not require an onboard human pilot or passengers. Such vehicles may be used for photography, videography, inspection, delivery, among other uses. A remote pilot may control the flight while watching the vehicle in the sky, i.e. based on visual line of sight (VLOS).SUMMARY

[0003] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to collectively: determine flight data of an UAV that is controllable by a pilot; generate an overlay on a display device that presents the flight data in combination with a real view of the UAV to the pilot; and monitor a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display, to enable generation of an alert indication on the condition of the UAV moving outside of the real view; or outside of a field of view of the pilot having regard to the pilot's eye position.

[0004] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a device is disclosed for augmenting a real view of an UAV comprising: a headset for a pilot having a display device; and one or more processors in communication with the headset, configured to collectively: determine flight data of the UAV that is controllable by the pilot; generate an overlay on said display device that presents the flight data in combination with a real view of the UAV; and monitor a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display, to enable generation of an alert indication on the condition of the UAV moving outside of the real view; or outside of a field of view of the pilot having regard to the pilot’s eye position.

[0005] According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is disclosed comprising: determining flight data of an UAV that is controllable by a pilot; generating an overlay on a display device for the pilot that presents the flight data in combination with a real view of the UAV; and monitor a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display, to enable generation of an alert indication on the condition of the UAV moving outside of the real view; or outside of a field of view of the pilot having regard to the pilot’s eye position.

[0006] According to these aspects, also disclosed are variations where the alert indication is at least one of: an auditory alert, a haptic alert, and a visual alert. The visual alert may comprise an augmentation of said overlay. The augmentation may comprise at least one of: a change in color of the overlay, a partial change in color of said overlay, a change in font of said overlay, an added alert-particular visual element, a flashing of said overlay, a partial flashing of said overlay, a change in contrast of the overlay, and a change in brightness of the overlay. The augmentation may be applied gradually in proportion to an extent or duration of deviation.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0007] FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example system with an unmanned aerial vehicle and a headset to display flight data thereof according to the present disclosure.

[0008] FIG. IB is a diagram of an example system with an unmanned aerial vehicle and a headset with a computer to display flight data thereof according to the present disclosure.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method of displaying flight data of an unmanned ariel vehicle according to the present disclosure.

[0010] FIG. 3 A is a diagram of an example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top left of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top right of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 3C is a diagram of another example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top left of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 3D is a diagram of another example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top right of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3E is a diagram of an example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top left and a top right of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 3F is a diagram of an example overlay combined with a real view, in which representations of flight data are positioned at a top left and a top right of the real view, according to the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 4 is another example headset computing device to display flight data with a movable overlay according to the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] When a remote pilot loses sight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) he / she is controlling, a risky or dangerous situation may emerge. Loss of sight of the UAV may result in the UAV crashing, which may damage property or injure people or animals. Even when crash does not occur, a UAV that is out of pilot sight is difficult or impossible to fly in a controlled or efficient manner. Energy may be wasted in returning the UAV to its desired position or flight path. As such, UAV pilots generally try to keep the UAV in sight at all times during a flight. Some jurisdictions may stipulate this as a requirement to operating a UAV.

[0018] A pilot may need to consider flight data to effectively operate the UAV. The pilot may thus momentarily glance at flight data, which may be displayed on a remote control or nearby computer. Looking at flight data may require the pilot to look away from the UAV, for example, by looking down at a readout on the remote control. However, looking away from the UAV, even briefly, may result in a loss of sight of the UAV resulting in the problems mentioned above.

[0019] This disclosure provides techniques to reduce or minimize the need for a pilot to lose visual contact with the UAV to view flight data. Flight data is provided to the pilot via a headset that provides a real view of the UAV. Such augmented reality (AR) display of flight data allows the pilot to keep the UAV in sight while viewing the flight data. Accordingly, UAV flights may be made safer, more efficient, or both.

[0020] FIG. 1A shows an example system 100 that includes a UAV 102, headset 116 and a computing device 104 integrated with the headset 116.

[0021] The UAV 102 includes an airframe, a set of rotors, a power source, a wireless communications interface, and a controller configured for human-controlled, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous flight. The UAV 102 may include additional components, such as a camera 106, which may be fixed or independently controlled, in terms of (e.g.) pan, tilt and zoom. The camera 106 may capture digital video from the perspective of the UAV 102 useful for piloting. Alternatively or additionally, the camera 106 or an array of cameras 106 may obtain digital video with a bird’s eyes view from the UAV 102.

[0022] The computing device 104 is remote from the UAV 102 and is used by a remote pilot 108, who may use a remote control 110 to fly the UAV 102. Input signals 112 to control the flight of the UAV 102 may be wirelessly transmitted to the UAV 102 by the remote control 110.

[0023] The computing device 104 receives output signals from the UAV 102 via wireless communications. Output signals may represent flight data 114 to aid the pilot 108 in flying the UAV 102. Flight data 114 may be received by the computing device 104 directly from the UAV 102. Alternatively, flight data 114 may be receive from the remote control 110, which receives the flight data 114 from the UAV 102.

[0024] In this example, the computing device 104 takes the form of a headset that may be worn by the pilot 108 to view the flight data 114, however in alternative embodiments the computing device 104 may be provided on a separate computer, from a cloud computing system in direct or indirect communication with both the UAV 102, headset 116, or remote control 110.

[0025] The headset 116 as shown by enlarged view, incudes a housing, a communications interface 118, a display device 120, a non-transitory machine- readable medium 122, and one ormore processors 124. The headset computing device 104 may be a commercially available augmented reality or AR headset adapted to implement the functionality discussed herein. In some embodiments, the headset computing device 104 further comprises at least one of: an eye tracker for recording gaze of the pilot 108; and a camera for recording a real view provided to the pilot 108. In either case, the processor and medium are equipped to determine image location of the UAV 102 within the field of view, and may also be used to gage attention of the pilot 108.

[0026] The housing contains and secures the other components of the headset computing device 104 and includes a strap, harness, eyeglass-style arms, or other securing structure to hold the headset 104 to the pilot’s head.

[0027] The communications interface 118 includes hardware, such as a network adaptor card, network interface controller, or network-capable chipset, and may further include instructions, such as a driver and / or firmware. The communications interface 118 may include an antenna and may be configured for wireless communications with a like communications interface at the UAV 102. The communications interface 118 may be configured to receive the flight data 114 from the UAV 102, directly or indirectly.

[0028] The display device 120 may include a light-emitting diode (LED) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), or similar device capable of rendering images for viewing by the pilot 108. The display device 120 may include a transparent screen or other type of optical look-through device that provides an optical real view. Optical look-through may be directly through the screen or aided by optical components, such as a lens, mirror, etc. Alternatively, the real view may be captured by a camera installed at the headset computing device 104 aimed in the direction of the wearer’s view and rendered to the wearer with the display device 120. The display device 120 configured to provide combined generated imagery with a real view may be referred to as an augmented reality or AR.

[0029] The non- transitory machine-readable medium 122 may include an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that encodes instructions. The medium 122 may include, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) flashmemory, a storage drive, an optical device, or similar. The medium 122 may include non-volatile memory, volatile memory, or a combination of such.

[0030] The non- transitory machine-readable medium 122 stores instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 124, cause the one or more processors 124 to collectively perform the functionality discussed herein.

[0031] The one or more processors 124 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a processing core, an FPGA (e.g., the processor and medium may be the same device), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a similar device capable of executing the instructions. The terms “a” and “the” processor, as used herein, mean one or more processors that collectively execute instructions. “One or more processors” will be referred to as “the processor” for sake of brevity. When multiple processors are used, one process may execute some instructions and another processor may execute other, different instructions.

[0032] The processor 124 is connected to the communications interface 118, display device 120, and non-transitory machine-readable medium 122.

[0033] Overlay instructions 126 are provided to carry out the functionality discussed herein. Instructions 126 may be directly executed, such as a binary file, and / or may include interpretable code, bytecode, source code, or similar instructions that may undergo additional processing to be executed.

[0034] The overlay instructions 126 determine flight data 114 of the UAV 102, generate an overlay 128 that describes the flight data 114, and outputs the overlay 128 for combination with a real view 130 of the UAV 102. The real view 130 is expected to contain the UAV 102 in that the pilot 108 is expected to keep the UAV 102 within his / her view at most or all times during flight. As such, the overlay 128 of flight data 114 provides the pilot 108 with important information without the pilot having to take his / her eyes off the UAV 102.

[0035] Determining the flight data 114 may include wirelessly receiving flight data 114 from the UAV 102. The flight data 114 may be used by the instructions 126 as received or may undergo processing by the headset computing device 104.

[0036] Flight data 114 may include operational data of the UAV 102, such as remaining energy (e.g., battery charge remaining), altitude, latitude, longitude, or a combination of such. Alternatively or additionally, flight data 114 may include video from a camera 106 installed at the UAV 102. Flight data 114 is selected to provide critical flight operations information to the pilot 108 while reducing or eliminating cognitive overload.

[0037] Generating the overlay 128 may include rendering the flight data 114 as a graphic, symbol, text, or combination of such. Example graphics include lines, bars, rectangles, triangles, circles, circular sectors, and other shapes. Example symbols include letters, numbers, characters, and similar. Example text includes strings of human-readable text, which may include words, phrases, and so on. Example overlay elements that combine graphics, symbols, and / or text include representations of gauges (e.g., an image of a traditional altitude gauge). In addition, the same element of flight data 114, such as altitude, may be represented in the same overlay 128 by different modalities of representation, such as a number and a graphical bar that is filled proportionally. The overlay 128 is generated at intervals and thus dynamically represents the flight data 114 as the flight data 114 changes.

[0038] Generating the overlay 128 may additionally or alternatively include displaying video captured by the camera 106 of the UAV 102. As mentioned above, video captured by the UAV 102 may be from the perspective of the UAV 102, whether a fixed or aimable perspective, or may have a bird’s eye view that is known to be generated from video of multiple viewpoints. A video overlay 128 may be combined with the real view with a picture-in-picture format.

[0039] Different overlays 128 may be generated for the pilot 108 to select before or during the flight.

[0040] Outputting the overlay 128 may include displaying the overlay 128 at the display device 120 of the headset computing device 104, so that both the overlay 128 and the real view 130 are visible and intelligible to the pilot 108. Representation of the flight data 114 may be positioned relative to the real view 130 at a location, such as at or near an outer perimeter of the real view, that reduces or minimizes obstruction of the real view and distraction to the pilot 108.

[0041] Accordingly, the system 100 provides to the pilot 108 with a real view of the UAV 102 augmented with a representation of important flight data 114, so that the pilot 108 may simultaneously visually monitor the UAV 102 and the flight data 114.

[0042] FIG. IB shows an example system 150 that includes a UAV 102, a headset 152, and a computing device 154. The system 100 of FIG. 1A may be referenced for details not repeated here, with like reference numerals and terminology representing like components. Only differences between the systems 150 and 100 will be discussed in detail.

[0043] The headset 152 is connectable to the computing device 154 via a communications link 156, which may be wired or wireless. The headset computing device 104 may be a commercially available AR headset.

[0044] The computing device 154 may be a notebook computer, tablet computer, smartphone, or similar device. The computing device 154 may be under the control of the pilot 108 and located at the same location as the pilot 108.

[0045] The computing device 154 is configured to generate obtain the flight data 114 from the UAV 102, whether via direct wireless communications or via the remote control 110. The computing device 154 is further configured to generate an overlay 128, as discussed above. The computing device 154 is configured to output the overlay 128 to the headset 152, so that the overlay 128 may be combined with a real view 130. The computing device 154 may thus perform the overlay generation functionality discussed herein, while the headset 152 may combine the overlay 128 with the real view 130. Alternatively, in the case of a real view that is video, the computing device 154 may also combine the overlay 128 with the real view 130.

[0046] The system 150 may allow for reduced computational resources at the headset 152 and may allow for use of a wider range of off-the-shelf headsets.

[0047] The systems 100 and 150 discussed above provide different options for determination of flight data and generation of overlays of flight data. An overlay may be generated by a headset or by a computer connected to the headset. The overlay may be combined with a real view at the headset or at a computer connected to the headset. Other options are also contemplated. For example, an overlay may be generated by a computing device at the UAV, such as a flightcomputer or a computer that controls a camera of the UAV. In general, the functions of obtaining flight data and generating the overlay may be distributed among any of the headset, a computer connected to the headset, a remote control, the UAV, or other computing device that is in physical proximity to the flight. An overlay generated by a device other than the headset may be outputted to the headset for display. If the headset provides an optical real view, the headset combines the overlay with the real view. If the headset uses a video real view, combination of the overlay with the real view may be performed by the headset or by the device that generates the overlay, if not the headset.

[0048] FIG. 2 shows an example method 200 of displaying flight data of a UAV. The method 200 may be implemented as processor-executable instructions, such as overlay instructions 126 discussed above. The above discussion of the systems 100, 150 may be referenced for details not repeated here.

[0049] At block 202, flight data of the UAV is determined. This may include receiving flight data wirelessly from the UAV. Received flight data may be raw data that is subsequently processed. Flight data may include altitude, speed, coordinates, power remaining, video, and similar operational data of the UAV.

[0050] At block 204, an overlay that describes the flight data is generated. The overlay may include graphics, symbols, text, video, or similar visual representations of the flight data.

[0051] At block 206, the overlay is displayed to a remote pilot of the UAV. The overlay is displayed as combined with a real view of the UAV, as may be enabled by a headset with a look- through optical path or a camera configured to capture video from the pilot’s perspective.

[0052] The method 200 may be performed continuously in real time, such that the pilot is provided with a dynamic overlay of flight data at a rate of, for example, 24, 30, 60, etc. frames per second.

[0053] The overlays discussed herein may position the representation of flight data at a location within the real view that is readily visible to the pilot while reducing or minimizing obstruction or obscuring of the real view and while reducing or minimizing distraction or cognitive overload to the pilot. An overlay may be positioned at an edge or perimeter of the real view, such as at atop corner of the real view. Overlays containing different elements of flight data may be positioned adjacent to each other in the same corner or at opposing corners. An overlay may have an opaque background that occludes the underlying real view. A total area occupied by an overlay or multiple overlays displayed at the same time may be limited to less about than quarter of the original real view. FIGs. 3A - 3F show examples of such overlays.

[0054] FIG. 3A shows example overlays 300, 302 combined with a real view 304. The overlays 300, 302 contain representations of flight data and are positioned at a top left of the real view 304. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 302 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are horizontally adjacent to each other and located at a top-left position within the real view 304. Different data elements of the operational overlay 302 are vertically distributed.

[0055] As shown, the UAV 308 is visible in the real view at the same time that the flight data (e.g., U AV-perspective video, altitude, etc. are visible in the overlays 300, 302. The pilot can monitor flight data presented in the overlays 300, 302 simultaneously with viewing the real view 304 that contains the UAV 308. As such, the pilot need not look away from the UAV 308 to view critical flight data. In this example, a bridge is being inspected via the UAV-perspective video presented in the overlay 300. FIG. 3 A also shows an arrow 303 that is overlaid as an augmentation of the view to show a direction to the pilot to pitch and yaw to centre the image of the UAV 308 in a field of view. This is provided by object tracking, eye tracking and predictive analytics on the image stream, possibly in combination with flight control laws and command history of the UAV 308.

[0056] FIG. 3B shows example overlays 300, 302 combined with a real view 304. FIG. 3A and related description may be referenced for detail not repeated here. Example imagery is omitted for sake of clarity. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 302 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are horizontally adjacent to each other and located at a top-right position within the real view 304. For sake of illustration, in this figure the video overlay 300 shows a bird’s eye view of the UAV and nearby objects (e.g., the bridge).

[0057] FIG. 3C shows example overlays 300, 310 combined with a real view 304. FIG. 3A and related description may be referenced for detail not repeated here. Example imagery is omitted for sake of clarity. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 310 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are vertically adjacent to each other and located at a top-left position within the real view 304. The operational overlay 310 includes data elements that are horizontal and vertically distributed.

[0058] FIG. 3D shows example overlays 300, 310 combined with a real view 304. FIGs. 3 A and 3C and related description may be referenced for detail not repeated here. Example imagery is omitted for sake of clarity. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 310 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are vertically adjacent to each other and located at a top-right position within the real view 304.

[0059] FIG. 3E shows example overlays 300, 302 combined with a real view 304. FIG. 3A and related description may be referenced for detail not repeated here. Example imagery is omitted for sake of clarity. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 302 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are positioned at opposite top corners within the real view 304. The video overlay 300 is positioned at top left, and the operational overlay 302 is positioned at top right.

[0060] FIG. 3F shows example overlays 300, 302 combined with a real view 304. FIG. 3 A and related description may be referenced for detail not repeated here. Example imagery is omitted for sake of clarity. In this example, a video overlay 300 and an operational overlay 302 that includes numerical values, text, and symbols (e.g., battery life gauge) are positioned at opposite top corners within the real view 304. The operational overlay 302 is positioned at top left, and the video overlay 300 is positioned at top right.

[0061] Aspects of the examples of FIGs. 3 A - 3F may be combined to arrive at different example overlay arrangements. In other examples, different flight data may be displayed. In still other examples, video may be omitted. In general, the overlays with flight data at one or more corners of the real view, and preferably one or both top corners, are contemplated to be less intrusive on the real view and more natural and less distracting for the pilot to monitor.

[0062] FIG. 4 is another example headset computing device 400 to display flight data with a movable overlay 402. The systems 100 and 150 of FIGs. 1A and IB may be referenced for details not repeated here, with like reference numerals and terminology representing like components. Only differences will be discussed in detail.

[0063] The headset computing device 400 includes a camera 404 aimed forward to capture gestures, such as hand or finger gestures, made by the pilot. The camera 404 is connected to the processor 124.

[0064] The headset computing device 400 further includes overlay instructions 406 that carry out the functionality discussed above for the overlay instructions 126. The overlay instructions 406 are further configured to monitor imagery captured by the camera 404 to detect gestures 408 made by the pilot. The overlay instructions 406 configure the overlay 402, which is similar to the overlay 128 discussed above, based on gestures 408.

[0065] The overlay instructions 406 may define various gestures 408 to select, show / hide, and move any number of overlays 402. A gesture 408 may be defined to select a particular overlay 402 or cycle a selected overlay 402 among multiple available overlays 402 (e.g., overlays 300 and 302 discussed above).

[0066] Another gesture 408 may be defined to show or hide a selected overlay 402. Various different predefined overlays 402 may be provided for the pilot to selectively show or hide.

[0067] Another gesture 408 may be defined to move 410 a selected overlay 402 to a desired position within the real view 412. Multiple different gestures 408 may be provided to move 410 a selected overlay 402 in different directions or to different predefined positions within the real view 412. Overlay motion may be freeform, in that a gesture 408 moves 410 the overlay proportional to the gesture. Overlay motion may be discrete, in that a gesture 408 cycles through discrete predefined overlay positions.

[0068] In another example, a single gesture 408 cycles through several predefined overlay configurations that have various different predefined overlays 402 at various different predefined positions. For example, the overlay configurations of FIGs. 3 A - 3F may be predefined and apredefined single hand gesture 408 may be predefined to cycle through these overlay configurations. A configuration without any overlays may also be added to the cycle.

[0069] As such, the pilot may configure one or more overlays 402 based on their preference.

[0070] In view of the above, it should be apparent that the techniques discussed herein allow the viewing of flight data without looking away from the UAV. A computing device, whether a headset, connected computer, or the UAV itself, may be used to generate an augmented reality or AR view of flight data in the context of a real view of the UAV. Accordingly, UAV flights may be made safer and / or more efficient.

[0071] One skilled in the art realizes that the above allows for regulatory compliance i.e. the need to maintain view of a remote UAV 102. However, to further facilitate that compliance it can also be advantageous to incorporate an alert indication. Wherever a UAV leaves the view of the pilot, there may be regulatory non-compliance. For the system, method and apparatus described above, this is consistent with the deviation of the UAV from the center of the real view 130 where the amount of deviation is sufficient such that sight is lost.

[0072] An alert indication may be applied in such deviation condition. The indication may include at least one of: an auditory alert, a haptic alert, and a visual alert generated by the headset or where appropriate an accessory or other element of a system, such as the remote control 110. The visual alert may be an augmentation of said overlay such as one or more of: a change in color of the overlay, a partial change in color of said overlay, a change in font of said overlay, an added alert-particular visual element, a flashing of said overlay, a partial flashing of said overlay, a change in contrast of the overlay, and a change in brightness of the overlay.

[0073] It may be understood that the amount of deviation necessary for triggering an indication is a system choice with considerations such as: (a) the regulatory regime of the legal jurisdiction, (b) the vision of the pilot or the expected vision of the pilot, and (c) the degree of caution expected for the system i.e. the implementor of the system may want the alert the pilot for small deviations before loss of sight, alternatively, only on full peripheral loss of sight, or on any condition in between the extremes.

[0074] It may be further understood that the alert indication may be introduced with a gradual amplitude corresponding to the amplitude of the deviation condition.

[0075] In order to implement the alert in the system, knowledge of the orientation of the headset and location of the UAV is required. Subsystems for both of these are known, and not the subject of this invention. A person skilled in the art will understand that the first may be accomplished with, for example, gyroscope technology. The second may be accomplished with GPS, telemetry, drone identification technology, or a combination of these. Where a more precise measure of vision orientation is required, eye tracking could be incorporated.

[0076] It should be recognized that features and aspects of the various examples provided above can be combined into further examples that also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the figures are not to scale and may have size and shape exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A device for augmenting a real view of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising: a headset for a pilot of the UAV, the headset having a display device, and one or more processors configured to collectively: determine flight data of the UAV; generate an overlay on said display device that presents the flight data in combination with a real view of the UAV; monitor a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display; and generate an alert if and when the UAV moves outside of the real view.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the alert is at least one of: an auditory alert, a haptic alert, and a visual alert.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said visual alert comprises an augmentation of said overlay.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said augmentation comprises at least one of: a change in color of the overlay, a partial change in color of said overlay, a change in font of said overlay, an added alert-particular visual element, a flashing of said overlay, a partial flashing of said overlay, a change in contrast of the overlay, and a change in brightness of the overlay.

5. The device of any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said alert is applied gradually in proportion to an expected distance from real view, a velocity with which the UAV moved outside of the real view, or time since the UAV moved outside of real view.

6. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to collectively: determine flight data of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is controllable by a pilot;generate an overlay on a display device for presenting the flight data in combination with a real view of the UAV to a pilot of the UAV; monitor a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display; and generate an alert if and when the UAV moves outside of the real view.

7. The medium of claim 6 wherein the alert is at least one of: an auditory alert, a haptic alert, and a visual alert.

8. The medium of claim 7 wherein said visual alert comprises an augmentation of said overlay.

9. The medium of claim 8 wherein said augmentation comprises at least one of: a change in color of the overlay, a partial change in color of said overlay, a change in font of said overlay, an added alert-particular visual element, a flashing of said overlay, a partial flashing of said overlay, a change in contrast of the overlay, and a change in brightness of the overlay.

10. The medium of any of claims 6 to 9 wherein said alert is applied gradually in proportion to an expected distance from real view, a velocity with which the UAV moved outside of the real view, or time since the UAV moved outside of real view.

11. A method comprising: determining flight data of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is controllable by a pilot; generating an overlay on a display device for presenting the flight data, in combination with a real view of the UAV, to the pilot; monitoring a position of the UAV relative to an orientation of the real view of the display; and generating an alert if and when the UAV moves outside of the real view.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the alert is at least one of: an auditory alert, a haptic alert, and a visual alert.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said visual alert comprises an augmentation of said overlay.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said augmentation comprises at least one of: a change in color of the overlay, a partial change in color of said overlay, a change in font of said overlay, an added alert-particular visual element, a flashing of said overlay, a partial flashing of said overlay, a change in contrast of the overlay, and a change in brightness of the overlay.

15. The method of any of claims 11 to 14 wherein said alert is applied gradually in proportion to an expected distance from real view, a velocity with which the UAV moved outside of the real view, or time since the UAV moved outside of real view.

Images