UAV Trajectory Planning Engine for Deconflicted Mission Approval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack a mechanism to manage airspace for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and provide an approval process for their missions, leading to unauthorized flights that pose risks to authorized flights and emergency services, with the FAA registration process being time-consuming and difficult to enforce.
Innovation Solution
A trajectory planning application that receives mission specifications, identifies candidate flight trajectories using a motions library, ensures compliance with restrictions and other flight plans, and issues mission approvals, integrating with third-party data sources for real-time airspace management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the FAA registration process is used for UAV flight approval, then flight authorization is obtained, but the process takes 24 hours or more which is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-registering UAVs and pre-planning flight trajectories before actual flight operations. The trajectory planning engine generates candidate flight trajectories and checks them against restricted airspace and other flight plans in advance, so that when flight approval is needed, the process is significantly accelerated since the groundwork has already been completed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a trajectory planning engine and airspace management system as intermediaries between the UAV operator and the FAA registration process. This intermediary system automatically checks flight trajectories against restricted airspace, generates deconflicted flight plans, and facilitates faster approval by pre-processing flight requests, reducing the need for manual review and accelerating the overall approval timeline.
2Ease of operation
If unauthorized UAV flights are allowed, then operational flexibility is maintained, but safety risks increase to authorized flights and emergency services
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring flight trajectories against restricted airspace databases and other approved flight plans. The trajectory planning engine provides real-time feedback on potential conflicts and automatically adjusts or rejects trajectories that would violate airspace restrictions or create conflicts with other flights, including emergency services, thereby preventing unsafe operations while maintaining flexibility for authorized flights.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by proactively identifying and preventing potential safety conflicts before they occur. The system pre-checks flight trajectories against restricted airspace, pre-approves safe flight paths, and maintains a database of authorized trajectories that have been validated to not conflict with emergency services or other authorized operations. This prevents unauthorized or unsafe flights from occurring in the first place.
3Reliability
If real-time airspace monitoring is implemented, then safety and compliance are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trajectory planning engine is designed as a universal system that performs multiple functions: it generates flight trajectories, checks against restricted airspace, deconflicts with other flight plans, and provides approval recommendations. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system rather than separate specialized systems, the patent reduces overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive real-time airspace monitoring and management capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for trajectory planning for an unmanned aerial vehicle. A mission specification for fulfillment by an unmanned aerial vehicle is received. The mission specification identifies a waypoint, an optimization criterion, and information identifying the unmanned aerial vehicle. It is determined whether candidate flight trajectories are available. Maneuvers from a motions library that defines available maneuvers are modeled to identify candidate flight trajectories to the waypoint which satisfy a restriction condition and do not conflict with a flight plan for another aerial vehicle. If candidate flight trajectories are available, desired flight trajectories are selected. A mission approval is submitted to a receiving party.