Autonomous Drone Positioning for Resolution, Link, and Stealth Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drone systems face challenges in autonomously regulating their operation to maintain optimal communication rates, object resolution, and stealth mode sound intensity levels while tracking or observing targets, often requiring manual intervention to balance these competing criteria.
Innovation Solution
The drone employs autonomous flight control mechanisms that adjust its altitude, zoom factor, and position to meet specific criteria for communication rate, object resolution, and sound intensity level thresholds, allowing it to operate in tracking, observation, or stealth modes by prioritizing one or more of these factors based on predefined criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the drone flies closer to the target to improve object resolution, then the communication rate decreases due to obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from two-dimensional horizontal movement to three-dimensional vertical movement. The drone ascends to higher altitudes to overcome ground-based obstacles blocking communication signals, thereby maintaining both high object resolution and reliable communication simultaneously. This spatial dimension change resolves the contradiction by allowing the drone to be physically closer to the target while avoiding communication blockages.
2Measurement precision
If the drone reduces distance to the target to improve object resolution, then sound intensity level increases making detection more likely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes vertical dimensionality change to resolve the contradiction between object resolution and sound intensity. By ascending to higher altitudes, the drone maintains close horizontal distance to the target for high-resolution imaging while increasing vertical separation to reduce sound intensity levels at the target location, thereby avoiding detection.
3Reliability
If the drone ascends to improve communication rate, then the object resolution decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by implementing continuous, real-time adjustment of the drone's altitude and position. The flight control mechanism dynamically balances communication rate and object resolution based on current operational conditions, allowing the drone to optimize both parameters simultaneously rather than fixing one parameter statically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the drone continuously monitors communication rate and object resolution metrics, then adjusts its altitude and position accordingly. This closed-loop control system allows the drone to maintain optimal performance by responding to real-time changes in environmental conditions and operational requirements.
4Reliability
If manual intervention is used to balance communication and resolution criteria, then operational efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by implementing autonomous flight control mechanisms that automatically regulate the drone's altitude and position to balance communication rate and object resolution criteria. The system performs self-adjustment without requiring manual intervention, thereby maintaining reliable operation while significantly improving operational efficiency through automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by automatically adjusting flight parameters (altitude, position, speed) to optimize the balance between communication rate and object resolution. The flight control mechanism dynamically modifies these parameters based on real-time conditions, eliminating the need for manual intervention and enhancing operational efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A drone autonomously operates to track an object, track an object while being stealthy and/or observe the details of an object while maintaining communication at a rate equal to or greater than a threshold. A drone may operate to maintain the image of an object at or above a predetermined resolution in an image captured by a camera mounted on the drone and to maintain a wireless communication rate equal to or greater than a threshold rate. A drone may operate so that the sound intensity level caused by the operation of the drone is less than or equal to a sound intensity level threshold as perceived by an object (e.g., person, target, suspect) being tracked.