Dynamic Beacon Address Allocation for 3D Indoor Drone Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Last mile delivery services face challenges in guiding delivery drones to mobile targets within buildings, such as offices or skyscrapers, due to the need for dynamic and automatic location of recipients in three-dimensional spaces.
Innovation Solution
A system using dynamic beacon address allocation and beacon positioning, where drones determine the cell containing a target beacon, transmit a destination identifier, and receive guiding signals from domain beacons to navigate to the target, employing a logical address distribution protocol for clustering beacons and determining the shortest path based on signal strengths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional delivery methods using experienced drivers are used, then delivery accuracy to specific locations is maintained, but labor costs and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The drone delivery system performs self-navigation and self-localization by autonomously detecting beacon signals and calculating its own position relative to the target location, eliminating the need for human drivers and external guidance systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical guidance system (drivers following addresses) with an electromagnetic signal-based system (beacons transmitting signals that drones detect and use for navigation)
2Productivity
If drone delivery to mobile targets inside buildings is implemented, then last mile delivery efficiency is improved, but the ability to locate mobile targets in three-dimensional spaces becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the traditional two-dimensional address system by adding vertical dimension through multi-floor beacon networks, enabling three-dimensional location tracking within buildings by detecting signal strength variations from beacons distributed across different floors and levels
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces beacons as intermediary devices that are placed at target locations and transmit electromagnetic signals, serving as mediators between the drone and the mobile target to enable indirect detection and localization
3Measurement precision
If dynamic beacon address allocation is implemented, then navigation accuracy to mobile targets is improved, but the complexity of address management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic address allocation where beacon addresses are not fixed but change based on current target location, allowing the system to adapt to mobile targets by automatically updating the active beacon address that the drone navigates to
Data Source
AI summary
An approach is provided for dynamic beacons address allocation. The approach involves reporting, by each child node of a beacon tree structure, to a parent node, a load collection packet including a load count of each child node. Each child node is either a leaf node or a parent node. The parent node is either a root node or a child node reporting to another node. The parent node is located on a shortest path from a leaf node to the root node. The load count is a total number of the other nodes reporting to the parent node plus one. The approach also involves receiving, by each child node from the parent node, an address distribution packet that includes a contiguous logical address range and a weighted distance to the root node (WDR). The WDR and/or the tree structure are provided as an input for a drone navigation task.