UAV Location Verification and Secure No-Fly Logic
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are vulnerable to hacking and navigation interference, particularly when using satellite-based systems, which can lead to deviations from intended flight paths and potential safety hazards, and there is a need to ensure compliance with no-fly zones to prevent unauthorized operation.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a location verification system that uses satellite-based navigation data validated by secondary factors such as public broadcast beacons, cellular towers, and visual markers, and a secure no-fly zone logic module that verifies flight plans against no-fly zone data using cryptographic signatures to ensure compliance and prevent unauthorized operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If satellite-based navigation systems are used for UAV location determination, then navigation capability is improved, but vulnerability to hacking and navigation interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces location verification modules and secondary location sources (such as visual markers, broadcast beacons, and cellular towers) as intermediaries to validate satellite-based navigation data. These intermediary systems cross-check the UAV's reported location against multiple independent sources, detecting and correcting spoofing or interference without replacing the satellite navigation system entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary verification of location data by comparing satellite-based navigation readings against pre-stored maps, visual markers, and secondary location sources before the UAV executes navigation commands. This preliminary action detects potential spoofing or interference in advance, allowing the system to alert operators or execute corrective procedures before the UAV is diverted.
2Ease of manufacture
If open-source hardware and software components are used in UAVs, then ease of manufacture and customization is improved, but susceptibility to hacking and unauthorized control increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts critical security functions (location verification, no-fly zone enforcement, flight plan validation) into separate secure modules that operate independently from the main open-source flight control software. This extraction ensures that even if the open-source components are compromised, the core safety and security functions remain protected and cannot be easily manipulated by hackers.
3Ease of operation
If flight paths ignore flight restrictions, then ease of operation is improved, but compliance with no-fly zones deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary anti-action by pre-loading no-fly zone data and geofence boundaries into the UAV's navigation system before flight operations begin. The secure no-fly zone logic module continuously monitors the planned flight path against these pre-established restrictions, automatically blocking or alerting the operator before the UAV can inadvertently or maliciously enter restricted airspace.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus, methods and systems to associate a flight plan of an unmanned aerial vehicle (e.g., a drone) with a cryptographic signature are disclosed herein. Some disclosed examples include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions. The computer readable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to compare a flight path over a geographic area of an unmanned aerial vehicle to a geographically identified no-fly zone. The flight path is included in a flight plan. The instructions also cause the vehicle to determine whether the flight path enters the geographically identified no-fly zone, and based on whether the flight path is determined to enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the flight plan with a cryptographic signature.