UAV Collision Avoidance via Ground Station Flight Plan Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ducted fan UAVs lack a dihedral wing design, making it difficult to determine their direction, and many are too small to carry sensors for effective collision avoidance, posing a challenge as airspace becomes increasingly crowded with UAVs.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a ground station that receives and processes flight path data from other aircraft to calculate and transmit updated flight plans for UAVs to avoid collisions, using sensors like video cameras, acoustic sensors, and RADAR, and a processor to adjust flight plans based on obstacles and other aerial vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If miniaturization technology is used to create very small UAVs, then the UAV size is reduced for better maneuverability and mission flexibility, but the UAV becomes too small to carry sensors required for on-board collision avoidance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a ground station as an intermediary system that performs collision avoidance calculations centrally. The ground station receives flight path data from multiple UAVs, computes safe flight paths that avoid collisions, and transmits updated flight plans to the UAVs. This mediator approach allows miniaturized UAVs without on-board collision avoidance sensors to still achieve reliable collision avoidance through external computational support.
2Use of energy by moving object
If ducted fan UAV design is used, then propulsion efficiency is improved and enclosed propeller safety is enhanced, but the lack of dihedral wing design makes it difficult to determine flight direction for collision avoidance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical visual detection methods with electronic sensor systems and computational algorithms. Video cameras, acoustic sensors, and RADAR detect UAV positions and infer flight directions through electronic means rather than relying on visual dihedral wing cues. The ground station processor analyzes sensor data to determine flight paths and directions, substituting mechanical design indicators with electronic detection and computational analysis.
3Reliability
If ground station processes flight path data for multiple UAVs to calculate collision-free paths, then collision avoidance reliability is improved, but computational complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ground station is designed as a universal system that simultaneously manages multiple UAVs, processes various sensor data types (video, acoustic, RADAR), and performs multiple functions including collision detection, flight path calculation, and communication with all UAVs. This multi-functional design consolidates complexity into a single centralized system rather than requiring separate systems for each UAV, making the increased complexity manageable and efficient.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) configured to be equipped with data representing a first UAV flight plan, and a ground station configured to control the UAV. The ground station is operable to receive, at a first time, a first data set representing at least one flight path of at least one aircraft, calculate a second UAV flight plan to avoid the at least one flight path of the at least one aircraft, the second UAV flight plan being based on the data representing the first UAV flight plan and the first data set representing at least one flight path of the at least one aircraft, and transmit data representing the second UAV flight plan to the UAV.