Adaptive Drone Monitoring for Multi-Drone Authorization and Distress Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drone management systems lack efficient methods for tracking and authorizing multiple drones in real-time, particularly in managing roles, permissions, and distress situations within a predefined geographical area.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for managing drones that include receiving communications from drones, identifying active drones in a geographical area, authorizing drones for assignments based on roles and permissions, and performing operations such as data purge and mission reassignment during distress events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single drone management process is used for tracking and authorizing multiple drones, then the management process is simple, but the system cannot efficiently handle real-time tracking, role assignment, and distress situations for multiple drones simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments drone management into distinct functional modules: authentication module (verifying drone identities and tokens), assignment module (assigning roles and permissions), tracking module (monitoring drone locations), and distress management module (handling emergency situations). This segmentation allows each module to specialize in specific tasks, improving overall efficiency while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized server as an intermediary between multiple drones and the management system. This server acts as a mediator that receives communications from drones, verifies authentication tokens, assigns roles and permissions, and coordinates distress responses. The intermediary consolidates complex management logic in one location, enabling efficient multi-drone coordination without requiring complex peer-to-peer interactions among drones.
2Reliability
If real-time authentication and authorization is implemented for multiple drones, then security and role management are improved, but the communication overhead and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication by verifying drone identities and validating authentication tokens before drones engage in mission-critical operations. Role assignments and permissions are established in advance through the assignment module, so that when drones need to execute operations, the authorization is already in place. This preliminary action reduces real-time processing requirements and minimizes authentication delays during critical operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication and authorization system implements feedback mechanisms where the server continuously monitors drone communications, validates tokens, and provides real-time confirmation of authorization status. The system feedbacks role assignments and permission levels to drones, enabling them to self-regulate their operations according to authorized parameters. This continuous feedback loop ensures security while optimizing response time through automated validation.
3Loss of information
If the system tracks and monitors all drones continuously, then situational awareness and distress detection are improved, but the energy consumption and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tracking system implements partial monitoring by focusing surveillance resources on drones that are actively engaged in missions or have reported distress conditions. Rather than continuously monitoring all drones at maximum detail, the system adjusts monitoring intensity based on operational context, sending targeted queries to drones needing verification and reducing monitoring overhead for drones in stable, non-critical states. This partial action maintains situational awareness while reducing overall energy consumption.
4Ease of operation
If the system assigns specific roles and permissions to each drone, then operational control and mission execution are improved, but the complexity of managing assignments increases
Solution Approach 1:
The assignment module implements a universal role-based access control framework where a limited set of standardized roles (such as leader, follower, observer, or mission-specific roles) can be assigned to any drone. These universal roles come with predefined permission sets that can be applied across different missions and drone types. This universality simplifies assignment management by reducing the need to create custom permission structures for each individual drone, while still providing fine-grained operational control through the standardized role framework.
Data Source
AI summary
One example method of operation may include identifying a likelihood of an object presence at one or more locations within a predefined distance of locations explored by a drone during one or more monitoring actions performed by the drone during a mission including a number of mission requirements, selecting one or more new monitoring actions to perform by the drone based on the likelihood of the object presence to satisfy the mission requirements, and performing the one or more new monitoring actions by the drone.