Drone Race Tracking via Distributed Sensor Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drone racing systems lack a comprehensive solution for conducting races in contained areas while adhering to FAA regulations and providing an effective way for spectators to view the races, as they fail to account for obstacle detection, drone tracking, and live video feed transmission.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising sensor readers attached to obstacles, drones equipped with cameras and sensors, and computing devices that communicate through a race server to track drone positions, transmit video feeds, and provide real-time race data, enabling precise race management and spectator engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensor readers are attached to obstacle structures to track drones, then drone position tracking precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tracking system is segmented into distributed sensor readers placed at specific obstacle locations rather than a single centralized tracking system. Each sensor reader independently detects drones at its location, and the race server combines these localized measurements to achieve comprehensive tracking precision while keeping individual components relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The race server acts as an intermediary that receives detection data from multiple sensor readers and computes overall drone positions. This intermediary coordinates the distributed sensor network, allowing precise tracking through data fusion while managing system complexity centrally rather than requiring complex distributed processing at each sensor node.
2Reliability
If multiple sensor readers are deployed to detect drones, then race monitoring accuracy is improved, but cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is divided into multiple independent sensor reader units distributed at key race locations. Each unit provides localized detection capability, and their combined data achieves comprehensive race monitoring accuracy. This segmentation allows the system to scale reliability by adding more simple, identical units rather than complicating individual components.
3Ease of operation
If drones are equipped with cameras and video transmission, then spectator viewing experience is improved, but energy consumption and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring all drones to have full video transmission capabilities, the system uses a copy approach where selected drones or strategic camera positions provide video feeds that are distributed to spectators. This reduces the energy burden on individual drones while maintaining comprehensive viewing coverage through multiple camera copies.
4Productivity
If comprehensive race tracking and video transmission are implemented, then race management capability is improved, but loss of energy and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The race server serves as an intermediary that centralizes the computationally intensive tasks of tracking coordination and video feed management. Individual drones and sensor readers perform only simple local functions, reducing their energy consumption. The intermediary handles the complex data processing and coordination, achieving comprehensive race management capability while minimizing distributed energy loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of conducting a drone race or game in a contained area is disclosed herein. The system may also include cameras attached to the drones and the video feed from the camera is transmitted to a computing device used to control the drone and to display the video feed. The system may also use computing devices and monitors to display the video feeds from the cameras attached to the drones. The system may also be configured as a game with information points.