Digital Visual Observer for BVLOS UAV Airspace Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies face challenges in enabling unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate safely and autonomously beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS), especially without a Part 107 certified pilot or human visual observer nearby.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a digital visual observation system using observer devices equipped with high-resolution cameras and ADS-B-in capabilities, which can detect and avoid objects in the airspace and communicate with UAVs and other devices to ensure safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a human visual observer is used to monitor UAV operations, then safety and regulatory compliance are improved, but operational flexibility and autonomy are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The UAV system performs its own visual observation and collision detection through onboard sensors, processors, and algorithms. The system independently monitors airspace, detects hazards, and makes avoidance decisions without requiring external human observers, thereby maintaining safety while enabling full operational autonomy and flexibility.
2Reliability
If a human visual observer is required for UAV operation, then regulatory compliance is improved, but operational autonomy and independence are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical human visual observer system with an automated electronic observation system comprising onboard cameras, sensors, processors, and collision detection algorithms. This substitution maintains regulatory compliance by providing equivalent visual monitoring capabilities while enabling complete operational autonomy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary automated observation system that mediates between regulatory requirements and autonomous operation. This intermediary layer processes sensor data, performs hazard detection, and enables compliance with visual observer requirements while allowing the UAV to operate independently without human presence.
3Reliability
If direct visual line of sight is required for UAV operation, then safety monitoring is improved, but operational scope and accessibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from two-dimensional human visual line of sight to multi-dimensional sensor-based observation using onboard cameras, radar, and other sensors that can detect hazards in all directions simultaneously. This dimensional expansion enables comprehensive safety monitoring while allowing operation in previously inaccessible areas beyond visual line of sight.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples include one or more processors that receive, from a first camera, a plurality of images of an airspace corresponding an area of operation of a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The processors detect, based at least on the plurality of images, a candidate object approaching or within the airspace. Based on detecting the candidate object, the processors, direct, toward the candidate object, a field of view of a second camera disposed at a first location, and direct, toward the candidate object, a field of view of a third camera disposed at a second location, different from the first location. Based on one or more images from the second camera captured at the first location and one or more images from the third camera captured at the second location, the processors determine that the candidate object is an object of interest and perform at least one action.