UAV Escape Route Planning for Engine Failure in Urban Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) face challenges in maneuvering during engine failures or other emergencies due to limited climb capabilities and obstacles in urban areas, lacking effective escape route planning similar to commercial aircraft ETOPS concepts.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that separates a UAV's flight plan into portions based on environmental complexity, determining escape routes to safe landing sites, using 4D escape route volumes and navigation data, and rerouting as necessary to account for obstacles, no-fly zones, and changing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If UAVs operate in urban areas with obstacles and limited climb capabilities, then they can serve diverse applications, but their ability to maneuver during engine failures or emergencies is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores multiple escape routes to different landing sites before the UAV departs. These routes are determined based on the specific flight plan and environmental constraints, allowing the UAV to immediately execute a pre-planned emergency procedure without delay during actual failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The escape route planning system divides the operational space into multiple segments with different escape options. Each portion of the flight plan has associated escape routes to different landing sites, allowing the UAV to select the most appropriate escape option based on the specific failure location and conditions.
2Measurement precision
If the flight plan is divided into many portions based on environmental complexity, then escape route accuracy improves, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flight plan is divided into portions based on environmental complexity factors such as obstacle density, no-fly zones, and terrain variations. Each portion is assigned specific escape routes tailored to its characteristics, improving the accuracy and relevance of escape planning while managing computational load through structured segmentation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the flight plan receive customized escape route planning based on local environmental conditions. High-complexity areas with dense obstacles receive more detailed escape route calculations, while lower-complexity areas receive simpler planning, optimizing computational resources according to local needs.
3Loss of time
If escape routes are pre-calculated for all portions of the flight plan, then response time during failure is reduced, but memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Escape routes are pre-calculated and stored in memory before the UAV departs, enabling immediate execution during emergencies without real-time computation delays. The system prepares multiple contingency paths in advance, ensuring rapid response capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system manages memory resources by storing essential escape route data and discarding less critical information when not needed. During normal operation, only relevant escape routes for current flight portions are actively maintained in memory, reducing storage requirements while preserving quick access capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes separating a flight plan of a vehicle into a number of portions with each portion including a particular length that is determined based on a complexity of an environment where the flight plan takes place. The complexity of the environment is based on at least one of a set of factors including at least one of a terrain of the environment, one or more obstacles, one or more no-fly zones, or one or more no-landing zones within the environment. The method also includes determining an escape route for each portion of the flight plan. The escape route includes a route to a safe landing site in response to a failure of a system onboard the vehicle. The method additionally includes generating an escape route plan for the flight plan in response to all portions of the flight plan being assigned at least one escape route.