Drone Intermittent Flight via Stand-by Locations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drones face challenges in maximizing flight time and ensuring safety while performing tasks in high-traffic areas, such as retail stores, due to the need to avoid interactions with people, which existing technologies have not adequately addressed.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method and system for intermittent drone flights that utilize pre-designated stand-by locations for landing and recharging, where drones scan areas for clearance before navigating and landing, allowing them to conserve energy and operate safely by flying only when the path is clear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the drone flies continuously to maximize productivity, then the mission completion speed increases, but the safety decreases due to potential interactions with people in high-traffic areas
Solution Approach 1:
The flight route is segmented into multiple sections with intermediate landing locations positioned along the path. The drone divides its journey into discrete flight segments between these locations, allowing it to pause and reassess safety conditions between segments rather than attempting continuous flight through high-traffic areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The drone performs preliminary scanning of the flight area using onboard cameras and sensors before committing to flight between locations. This advance detection allows the drone to identify potential hazards and adjust its flight plan accordingly, ensuring safety conditions are met before each flight segment.
2Reliability
If the drone lands frequently at stand-by locations to ensure safety, then the safety increases by avoiding interactions with people, but the productivity decreases due to increased pause time
Solution Approach 1:
The drone dynamically adjusts its flight behavior based on real-time environmental conditions. When areas are clear, the drone maintains continuous flight to maximize productivity. When people or obstacles are detected, the drone transitions to intermittent flight by landing at stand-by locations, thus adapting safety measures to actual conditions rather than applying them statically.
Solution Approach 2:
The drone autonomously monitors its own safety conditions through onboard cameras and sensors, making independent decisions about when to fly and when to land without requiring external intervention. This self-monitoring and self decision-making capability allows the drone to balance safety and productivity autonomously throughout the mission.
3Productivity
If the drone maximizes flight time to complete missions efficiently, then the productivity increases, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drone employs periodic flight patterns with intermittent landing at stand-by locations rather than continuous flight. This periodic action allows the drone to conserve energy during landing phases while maintaining mission progress, optimizing the balance between productivity and energy consumption by alternating between flight and ground phases.
4Reliability
If the drone performs continuous scanning to ensure safety, then the safety monitoring improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drone performs scanning and area clearance verification in advance before each flight segment, rather than continuously during flight. This preliminary scanning approach ensures safety conditions are confirmed before committing to flight, reducing the need for continuous energy-intensive scanning throughout the entire mission.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for utilizing a drone for intermittent flights can include: receiving instructions of a flight mission with a flight route from an original location to a mission destination of the drone, wherein a plurality of stand-by locations are configured for the drone to land on along the flight route; obtaining data of the stand-by locations; scanning a first area between the original location of the drone and a first stand-by location to determine whether the first area is clear; controlling the drone to navigate over the first area along the flight route if the first area is clear; updating a drone position in real time; scanning a second area between an updated drone position and a second stand-by location to determine whether the second area is clear; and controlling the drone to land on the first stand-by location if the second area is not clear.