Smart Landing Pad Display for Low-Light UAV Marker Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drone landing systems, such as marker-based landing systems, face challenges in recognizing the landing pad during dark, bright, or inclement conditions, which can lead to unsafe emergency landings.
Innovation Solution
A smart landing pad with a flexible display and protective layer, equipped with locator and range finder devices, and IoT capabilities, allowing for real-time image and pattern changes, including QR codes, to enhance visibility and facilitate self-localization for UAVs, and enable remote monitoring and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional marker based landing systems are used, then the landing pad can be identified under normal conditions, but the landing pad becomes unrecognizable in dark, shadow, or bright light conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The landing pad uses a flexible display that can dynamically change its visual characteristics in real-time. The display adjusts its brightness, contrast, and pattern based on environmental lighting conditions detected by sensors, allowing it to maintain recognizability whether in dark, shadow, or bright light conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible display on the landing pad can change its color and visual patterns to enhance visibility under different lighting conditions. The display shows different colored markers and patterns that are optimized for specific lighting environments, ensuring the landing pad remains recognizable regardless of external light conditions.
2Reliability
If a flexible display is added to improve visibility and recognition, then landing pad recognizability improves, but the complexity of the landing pad system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible display serves multiple functions: it provides visual markers for landing pad recognition, displays directional information for UAV navigation, shows status information, and can communicate with the UAV through integrated communication devices. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems and mitigates the complexity increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the display function, communication function, and localization function into an integrated system. The flexible display is merged with communication devices and locator/range finder devices, creating a unified platform that reduces overall system complexity despite adding advanced capabilities.
3Measurement precision
If locator and range finder devices are integrated for self-localization, then landing accuracy improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The landing pad system performs self-localization using integrated locator and range finder devices. The system automatically determines its position and communicates this information to the UAV, eliminating the need for complex external localization infrastructure and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high precision.
4Adaptability or versatility
If IoT enabled remote monitoring and control is implemented, then operational flexibility and safety improve, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The IoT-enabled landing pad continuously collects data from sensors and communicates status information to remote systems. The system provides real-time feedback on landing pad conditions, UAV approach status, and environmental parameters, allowing for dynamic adjustments and improving operational flexibility while using standardized communication protocols to manage complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A smart landing pad comprises a flexible display that shows images or patterns, and a protective layer over the display. The protective layer allows a UAV to land without damaging the display. Locator and range finder devices, coupled to the display, communicate with the UAV. The display is operative for wireless communications with a computer or mobile device that provides on-demand user functions, allowing for dynamically changing or customizing the images/patterns shown on the display. The images/patterns comprise a background area showing changeable images that match an environment where the landing pad is placed, and a target landing area surrounded by the background area. The target landing area includes a changeable insensitive, contrast portion, and changeable marker pattern portions having changeable colors/shapes. The images/patterns also include changeable QR codes on the target landing area. The display is IoT enabled so that data from the landing pad is remotely cloud accessible.