UAS Altitude Reporting Using Dynamic Vertical Datum Resolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current altitude reporting systems for UAS are inaccurate, leading to potential collisions and inefficient airspace use due to reliance on GPS altitude or pressure-based measurements, which are relative and lack absolute altitude communication.
Innovation Solution
A system that combines hyperlocal weather data, satellite data, and sensory data from multiple UAS to establish a dynamic geospatial vertical datum, using crowdsourced data to reduce altitude uncertainty and enable consistent altitude reporting across different vehicle manufacturers, with a remote computing device solving a global system of equations to determine true altitudes and broadcast resolved models.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If GPS altitude or pressure-based altitude is used, then altitude measurement is simple, but altitude accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple altitude measurement systems (GPS, barometric pressure sensors from multiple UAS) into a unified crowdsourced altitude reference system. By merging data from multiple sources and using a global system of equations to resolve inconsistencies, the system achieves higher accuracy than any single sensor could provide alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote computing device that acts as an intermediary to process, validate, and resolve altitude data from multiple UAS. This intermediary system uses a global system of equations to determine accurate altitude references and broadcasts corrected altitude information back to vehicles, mediating between raw sensor data and reliable altitude information.
2Ease of operation
If pressure-based altitude is used, then relative altitude measurement is simple, but absolute altitude communication deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the remote computing device receives altitude data from multiple UAS, resolves it using a global system of equations, and broadcasts corrected altitude information back to the vehicles. This feedback loop transforms relative pressure-based measurements into accurate absolute altitude information that all vehicles can communicate and understand.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal altitude reference system that works across different vehicle manufacturers and platforms. The crowdsourced approach and standardized resolution process enable any UAS equipped with pressure sensors to achieve accurate absolute altitude measurement and communication, making the system universally applicable.
3Reliability
If large vertical clearances are used between vehicles, then collision safety is improved, but airspace efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of fixed vertical clearances with a computational system that uses global equation resolution and real-time altitude verification. Instead of relying on conservative fixed spacing, the system uses electronic computation to determine accurate relative altitudes and provides precise collision warnings only when necessary, replacing mechanical safety margins with intelligent computational assessment.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed herein are embodiments for providing altitude reporting. Some embodiments may include receiving (350) a query from a first vehicle (102a) regarding altitude data of the first vehicle (102a), providing (352) the altitude data to the first vehicle (102a), and receiving (354), by the computing device (108), a computed altitude from the first vehicle (102a). Some embodiments include calculating (356) an altitude uncertainty parameter for the first vehicle (102a), determining (358) a true altitude from the altitude data and the altitude uncertainty parameter, and determining (358) whether the true altitude is within a predetermined threshold of a second altitude of a second vehicle (102b). Some embodiments may be configured for, in response to determining that the true altitude is within the predetermined threshold, notifying (360) at least one of the following: the first vehicle (102a) or the second vehicle (102b).