Autonomous Runway Detection for Aerial Vehicle Heading Correction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerial vehicle control systems lack reliability in autonomous flight modes due to inaccuracies in runway detection and state information estimation, leading to potential flight errors.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that includes an autonomous control computer to detect runways using cameras and sensors, estimate state information errors, and correct heading values, with a flight control computer updating state information and generating flight routes based on corrected data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If runway detection is performed using existing methods, then the aerial vehicle can operate in autonomous flight mode, but the detection accuracy is insufficient leading to state information errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses visual feedback from camera images to detect runway markings and provides feedback correction to the inertial navigation system. The autonomous control computer continuously monitors runway detection status and corrects heading errors based on visual feedback, improving measurement precision while maintaining reliability through closed-loop control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an autonomous control computer as an intermediary between the flight control computer and the navigation system. This intermediary component specifically handles runway detection using multiple sensors and corrects state information errors, thereby improving detection accuracy without compromising the overall system reliability.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors and correction mechanisms are added to improve detection accuracy, then runway detection precision improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the autonomous control computer with the existing flight control system, integrating camera, sensor, and correction functions into a unified architecture. This combining approach improves detection precision while minimizing the increase in system complexity by sharing hardware resources and using integrated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous control computer performs multiple functions including runway detection, state information error estimation, and heading correction. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve improved detection accuracy without proportionally increasing system complexity, as a single component handles multiple tasks.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for controlling an aerial vehicle includes an autonomous control computer that detects a runway to estimate a state information error of the aerial vehicle, and a flight control computer that obtains state information of the aerial vehicle and transmits a determined flight mode of the aerial vehicle to the autonomous control computer when the flight mode of the aerial vehicle is determined as an autonomous flight mode based on the state information of the aerial vehicle.