Drone-to-Drone Task Assignment With Token-Based Authorization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drone management systems lack efficient methods for tracking, authorizing, and managing multiple drones in real-time, particularly in dynamic and adversarial environments, leading to potential security risks and inefficiencies in mission execution.
Innovation Solution
A blockchain-based system for drone authorization and management that utilizes unique private keys, ERC20 tokens, and secure communication protocols to authenticate and manage drone identities, roles, and permissions, ensuring secure and efficient drone-to-drone and drone-to-ground communication, with decentralized storage and heartbeat mechanisms for monitoring drone status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single drone management process is used for multiple drones, then operational simplicity is maintained, but security risks and inefficiencies increase in dynamic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized drone management system into distributed autonomous units. Each drone is segmented into independent functional modules (sensing, decision-making, communication) that can operate autonomously while collaborating with other drones. This segmentation enables secure role-based access control and prevents single-point failures, resolving the contradiction between operational simplicity and security reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic role assignment and permission management where drones can change roles and permissions based on real-time mission requirements and environmental conditions. This dynamic adaptability allows the system to maintain security while flexibly responding to changing operational needs, resolving the contradiction between fixed management processes and dynamic security requirements.
2Reliability
If real-time tracking and monitoring of multiple drones is implemented, then mission control and security are improved, but system complexity and communication overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each drone is equipped with autonomous self-monitoring capabilities that track its own status, location, and security parameters. Drones automatically report critical information to the network without requiring continuous centralized querying. This self-service approach maintains real-time awareness while reducing communication overhead and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal communication protocol and data format that all drones use for tracking and monitoring. This multi-functional framework handles diverse drone types, mission requirements, and security levels through a single standardized system, reducing overall complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
3Reliability
If decentralized authentication with ERC20 tokens is used, then security and authorization control are enhanced, but communication protocol complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces smart contracts as intermediary components that automatically handle ERC20 token verification and role-based authorization. These self-executing contracts mediate between drones and the central server, enforcing security rules without requiring complex manual authentication protocols. This intermediary layer enhances authorization control while simplifying the communication protocol through automated rule enforcement.
Data Source
AI summary
An example method of operation may include receiving, at a first drone, one or more communications from a second drone, identifying, via the first drone, the one or more communications comprises at least one of an identifier of the second drone and a request for an identifier of the first drone, transmitting, via the first drone, an authentication request comprising the identifier of the second drone to a server, receiving, via the first drone, a confirmation from the server indicating the second drone is assigned a valid token and is authorized to participate in a current mission, and transmitting, via the first drone, an instruction associated with the current mission to the second drone.