Optical Drone Guidance Using Encoded Laser Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drone guidance systems, such as GPS and radio communication, are vulnerable to interference and interception, necessitating a secure and reliable alternative for guiding drones to their intended targets.
Innovation Solution
A two-way optical communication system using encoded laser beams for bi-directional guidance between drones and a ground station, employing a guidance system with an optical emitter and detector, and a drone equipped with a detector camera and emitter, allowing for alignment and location determination without requiring the drone to know the exact position of the ground station.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If GPS guidance system is used to guide the drone, then the drone can be guided to its intended destination, but the system is expensive and vulnerable to interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the electronic GPS guidance system with an optical guidance system using laser beams. The ground station emits laser beams that reflect off retroreflectors on the drone, providing guidance through optical rather than electronic means, thereby eliminating GPS vulnerability while maintaining guidance capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces retroreflectors as intermediary elements on the drone that reflect laser beams back to the ground station. This intermediary mechanism enables the ground station to track drone position and provide guidance without requiring the drone to have complex onboard navigation systems, reducing overall system complexity and cost
2Reliability
If radio communication is used for drone guidance, then the system is low cost, but the communication can be intercepted and disturbed by third parties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes radio frequency communication with optical communication using laser beams. The ground station communicates with the drone by emitting modulated laser beams that carry guidance commands, and the drone responds by reflecting these beams back, providing secure communication that cannot be easily intercepted or jammed while maintaining low system cost
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic modulation of the laser beam intensity or frequency to encode communication signals. By varying the laser properties in periodic patterns, the ground station can transmit guidance commands securely, and the drone can respond with periodic reflected signals, creating a secure periodic communication protocol resistant to interception
3Measurement precision
If the drone needs to know the exact location of the guidance system for detection, then the detection accuracy is high, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional detection approach by having the ground station emit laser beams that automatically reflect back to it, rather than requiring the drone to actively detect and locate the ground station. The retroreflector on the drone passively returns the beam to the source, eliminating the need for the drone to know or calculate the ground station's exact location while maintaining high detection accuracy through the bidirectional optical link
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures secure and accurate guidance of drones to their targets, even when out of sight, with reduced susceptibility to interference, and allows for covert operations by not revealing target information to the drone prior to launch.
Implementation Method 1
The laser beams are diverged typically using a lens, such that they are emitted over a solid angle
Implementation Method 2
Each of the drone and the guidance system also has a detector camera, such as a camera with a pixelated CCD array, for determining the angular location of an impinging encoded light beam
Implementation Method 3
The drone and the guidance system each have a light source, for providing a beam having a wide field of illumination, by which each can detect or be detected by the other, and optionally for communicating with each other. Each of the light sources emits a beam of encoded light, such as a modulated laser beam
Data Source
AI summary
A system for guiding a drone to an intended destination using a remote guidance system, independent of a global positioning system installed on the drone and independent of radio guidance. The system uses a two-way optical communication channel between the guidance system and the drone. The drone and the guidance system each have a light source emitting a beam of encoded light, such as a modulated laser beam, and having an extended field of illumination, and a detector receiving the impinging light beam. The guidance system can detect the angular location of the drone emission, and can transmit instructions optically to the drone, while the drone can receive flight path instructions from the guidance system. The drone can be launched from a position that is not in the line of sight of its intended destination and guided optically from the launch position to its intended target destination.