UAV Mission Plan Delta Upload via Waypoint Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems face significant time constraints when uploading and modifying complex mission flight plans to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as they require serial uploading of entire operational details, which is inefficient and time-consuming, especially for slightly modified plans.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that allows for rapid modification of mission flight plans by using a programming controller to generate and upload only the necessary instructions to update the UAV's flight plan, utilizing unique identifiers for waypoints and difference profiling to minimize data transfer, enabling efficient conversion of existing plans without uploading the entire new plan.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire mission flight plan is uploaded serially to the UAV, then the flight plan can be transferred accurately, but the upload time increases substantially for complex missions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the modified portions of the flight plan (delta data) rather than transferring the entire flight plan. The system identifies changed elements such as modified waypoint coordinates, altered mission parameters, or updated operational procedures and transfers only these specific changes to the UAV, significantly reducing upload time while maintaining complete accuracy of the final flight plan state
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the flight plan into discrete identifiable elements (waypoints, mission parameters, operational procedures) and processes changes at the element level. By dividing the flight plan into manageable segments and identifying which segments require updates, the system avoids transferring unchanged portions, thereby reducing overall transfer time while ensuring accurate delivery of all necessary modifications
2Loss of time
If higher communication speeds are used, then upload time is reduced, but the solution is still unsatisfactory for highly complex missions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential change information (delta data) from the complete flight plan and transmits only this extracted subset to the UAV. This approach dramatically reduces the quantity of data that needs to be transmitted, making the upload process efficient even for highly complex missions with numerous waypoints and parameters, regardless of communication speed limitations
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for rapidly modifying flight mission plans for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is described. This includes a programming controller that requests the name of the existing flight mission in the UAV. When the requested name of the existing flight mission in the UAV is found to be the same name as that of the desired flight mission in the programming controller then the UAV is simply enabled by the programming controller to carry out the desired flight mission. When the requested name of the existing flight mission in the UAV is found not to be the same name as the modified flight mission in the programming controller then the programming controller creates and provides instructions to the UAV for rapidly updating the existing flight mission into the desired flight mission. These rapid updating instructions are similar to currently used ways of synchronizing personal computers in point-in-time procedures.