UAV Environmental Illumination for Autonomous Navigation in Low Light
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional UAVs require manual operation or offer quasi-autonomous functionality with limited obstacle avoidance and smart motion planning, increasing operating costs and liability.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous UAV with folding collapsible arms, multiple image capture devices, and advanced navigation and tracking systems for obstacle avoidance and high-level motion planning, enabling reliable autonomous flight and intuitive operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual operation is used for conventional UAVs, then operating costs and liability are reduced, but automation capability and obstacle avoidance are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous navigation system is divided into separate functional modules: image capture devices for perception, processing systems for decision-making, and control systems for execution. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently while working together to achieve autonomous navigation, resolving the contradiction between automation capability and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The UAV integrates multiple functions into a single platform: image capture for both navigation and obstacle detection, processing systems that handle both trajectory planning and real-time decision-making, and control systems that manage both propulsion and stabilization. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while enhancing autonomous capability.
2Reliability
If advanced navigation and tracking systems are added to enhance obstacle avoidance, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines image capture devices, processing systems, and control systems into an integrated navigation platform. The image capture devices serve dual purposes for both navigation and obstacle detection, while the processing system handles multiple tasks including trajectory planning, obstacle identification, and real-time decision-making. This merging reduces the number of separate components needed, improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where image capture devices constantly monitor the environment, processing systems analyze the captured data to detect obstacles and assess risks, and control systems adjust the UAV's trajectory in real-time based on this feedback. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enhances obstacle avoidance reliability by enabling dynamic adaptation to changing conditions without requiring overly complex predetermined protocols.
3Measurement precision
If multiple image capture devices are used for precise navigation and tracking, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The image capture system is segmented into multiple devices positioned at different locations and orientations on the UAV. Each device captures images from its specific viewpoint, and the processing system integrates these multiple perspectives to calculate precise position and orientation estimates. This segmentation of the sensing function across multiple devices improves measurement precision while allowing each individual device to remain relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The image capture devices serve multiple functions: they capture images for navigation, detect obstacles, provide tracking data, and enable environmental mapping. By making the image capture system multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate specialized sensors, thereby improving measurement precision without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces the need for skilled operators, enhances obstacle avoidance, and allows precise navigation and tracking, improving safety and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
direct the one or more illumination sources to emit light into a surrounding physical environment
Implementation Method 2
process images captured by any one or more of the plurality of upward-facing image capture devices or the plurality of downward-facing image capture devices
Data Source
AI summary
Autonomous aerial vehicle technology and, more specifically, environmental illumination for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles involves, in some embodiments, a UAV including upward-facing image capture devices, downward-facing image capture devices, one or more illumination sources, and a computer system. The computer system is configured to direct the one or more illumination sources to selectively emit light into a surrounding physical environment while the UAV is in flight, process images captured by any one or more of the plurality of upward-facing image capture devices or the plurality of downward-facing image capture devices to estimate a position and/or orientation of the aerial vehicle, generate a planned trajectory for the aerial vehicle through a physical environment based on the processing of the images, and control a propulsion system and/or flight surface of the aerial vehicle to cause the aerial vehicle to autonomously maneuver along the planned trajectory.