Imaging Apparatus Control Over Delayed Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Remote controlling of UAVs/RPAs over delayed communication links poses challenges due to uplink and downlink delays, making it difficult to accurately point the imaging apparatus at user-identified targets.
Innovation Solution
A method that enables users to track user-identified targets on periodically transmitted images, calculates the distance between the target and the imaging apparatus's pointing point at a future time considering the communication delays, and adjusts control commands based on previous commands not yet affecting the image, to accurately direct the pointing point onto the target.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If remote controlling is performed over a delayed communication link, then the user can operate the imaging apparatus from a distance, but the control accuracy deteriorates due to uplink and downlink delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates the future position of both the target and the pointing point by predicting their positions at the time when the control command will actually reach the imaging apparatus. This preliminary calculation of future states allows the system to compensate for communication delays before commands are sent, ensuring that the imaging apparatus is directed to where the target will be when the command takes effect, not where it is now.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously receives image data from the imaging apparatus, tracks the actual position of the pointing point, and compares it with the predicted future position. This feedback loop allows the system to adjust subsequent control commands to maintain accurate tracking despite the delayed communication link, correcting for any deviations caused by the delay.
2Stability of the object's composition
If control commands are transmitted periodically, then the communication link remains stable, but the response time to track moving targets deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of the target's future position and the imaging apparatus's pointing point position before transmitting control commands. By predicting where the target will be when the command arrives, the system maintains stable periodic communication while still achieving fast tracking response, as the prediction compensates for the inherent delay in the periodic command transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the control commands based on the predicted motion of the target. Instead of using static or simple reactive control, the system incorporates dynamic prediction of target position and velocity, allowing it to respond effectively to moving targets while maintaining stable periodic communication throughout the delay period.
3Ease of operation
If the user tracks the target manually on the displayed image, then the operation remains simple, but the tracking precision deteriorates due to communication delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary computational layer that processes the user's simple tracking input and automatically calculates the precise control commands needed. The user's manual tracking action serves as input, but the system's prediction algorithms act as an intermediary that translates this simple input into accurate future-position-based commands, combining ease of operation with high tracking precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Method that includes: enabling the user to track a user-identified target on a currently presented image of periodically transmitted images from an imaging apparatus; calculating a distance between the estimated location of the user-identified target in view of the user's tracking and the estimated location of the pointing point of the imaging apparatus at said future time, wherein the estimation relate to a future time by which a command control currently transmitted by the user reaches the imaging apparatus; and calculating a command control required for s directing the pointing point of the imaging apparatus onto the user-identified target, based on said calculated distance, the estimated average velocity of the user-identified target and further based on all previous control commands that had been already transmitted by the user but have not yet affected the currently presented image due to the delay in the communication link.