Collaborative Drone Control via Group Intent Vector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current live internet streaming services for first-person video from robotic cameras, such as drones, allow only a single user to actively control the drone, limiting audience engagement as passive viewers lack the ability to influence the drone's motion in real-time.
Innovation Solution
A real-time collaborative control system that enables multiple users to work together as a closed-loop system to control the motion of a robotic drone through a networked computing infrastructure, user interfaces, and a central collaboration server, combining individual user intent vectors into a group intent vector to guide the drone's motion and camera controls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single user controls the drone, then the control system is simple and responsive, but audience engagement is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple users' control inputs into a unified control signal through vector combination. Each user's intent is represented as a vector, and these vectors are combined to produce a group intent vector that controls the drone, allowing multiple users to collaborate in controlling the drone simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary computation layer that processes individual user intent vectors and transforms them into a unified group intent vector. This intermediary mechanism reconciles multiple control inputs without requiring direct user-to-user communication or complex coordination protocols
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple users control the drone simultaneously, then audience engagement increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical coordination mechanisms with mathematical vector operations. Instead of requiring complex communication protocols or coordination algorithms, the system uses vector addition and normalization to combine control inputs, simplifying the computational complexity while enabling multi-user control
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter representation of control inputs from discrete commands to continuous vectors with magnitude and direction. This parameter transformation allows for smooth integration of multiple inputs and enables the system to handle variable numbers of users without increasing structural complexity
3Measurement precision
If individual user control is maintained, then control precision is high, but collective intelligence is not utilized
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring individual user intent vectors and their contribution to the group intent vector. This feedback mechanism allows the system to maintain awareness of individual control preferences while utilizing collective intelligence, enabling dynamic adjustment of control weighting based on user engagement levels
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are for enabling a group of individuals, each using an individual computing device, to collaboratively control a vehicle in real-time as a unified intelligence. The collaboration system comprises a plurality of computing devices, each of the devices being used by an individual user, each of the computing devices enabling its user to contribute to the emerging real-time group-wise intent. A collaboration server is disclosed that moderates the closed-loop system, enabling convergence upon a unified group intent. Control commands are repeatedly sent to the vehicle based on the determined group intent.