Polygon Flight Restriction Zones for Irregular UAV Airspace Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack effective methods to control and restrict the flight of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within irregularly shaped regions, such as those surrounding airports or sensitive areas, which are crucial for safety and regulatory compliance.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of flight restriction zones defined by irregularly shaped flight restriction strips, which utilize processors to assess the location and movement characteristics of UAVs relative to these zones, triggering appropriate flight response measures to ensure compliance, including automatic landing or alerting operators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If regular or simple geometric shapes are used for flight restriction zones, then the system complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the ability to accurately represent irregularly shaped restricted areas (such as those surrounding airports or sensitive buildings) deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides irregularly shaped flight restriction zones into multiple polygonal segments or strips. Each individual polygon can be relatively simple to define, but collectively they form a complex irregular shape that accurately represents the restricted area. This segmentation allows the system to maintain operational simplicity while achieving high geometric precision for irregular boundaries.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex irregularly shaped flight restriction zones are implemented, then the precision of representing restricted areas is improved, but the device complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic assessment of UAV location and movement characteristics relative to the flight restriction strips. The system continuously updates the UAV's position and evaluates whether it is approaching, entering, or exiting restricted zones. This dynamic approach allows complex irregular shapes to be managed through real-time computational geometry operations rather than requiring complex static control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends the flight restriction concept from two-dimensional geographic boundaries into three-dimensional space by incorporating altitude dimensions. Flight restriction strips are defined with vertical boundaries that create volumetric restricted zones. This dimensional extension allows the system to represent complex restricted areas more efficiently by adding the altitude parameter, thereby reducing the complexity of representing vertical boundaries.
3Reliability
If continuous monitoring of UAV location and movement is performed, then the reliability of flight restriction enforcement is improved, but the energy consumption and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic assessment of UAV location and movement characteristics rather than truly continuous monitoring. The system evaluates UAV position at discrete intervals and triggers flight response measures based on accumulated movement data. This periodic approach maintains reliability by regularly checking compliance while reducing energy consumption and computational load compared to truly continuous real-time monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the UAV to autonomously assess its own location and movement characteristics relative to flight restriction strips. The UAV's onboard systems perform self-evaluation and trigger appropriate flight response measures without requiring constant external monitoring or communication. This self-service approach reduces the energy and computational resources needed for enforcement while maintaining high reliability through autonomous compliance checking.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and devices are provided for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) associated with flight response measures. The flight response measure may be generated by assessing one or more flight-restriction strips, assessing at least one of a location or a movement characteristic of the UAV relative to the one or more flight-restriction strips, and directing, with aid of one or more processors, the UAV to take one or more flight response measures based on at least one of the location or movement characteristic of the UAV relative to the one or more flight-restriction strips.