Systems and methods for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle within an environment are provided. In one aspect, a system comprises one or more sensors carried on the unmanned aerial vehicle and configured to receive sensor data of the environment and one or more processors. The one or more processors may be individually or collectively configured to: determine, based on the sensor data, an environmental complexity factor representative of an obstacle density for the environment; determine, based on the environmental complexity factor, one or more operating rules for the unmanned aerial vehicle; receive a signal indicating a desired movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to move in accordance with the signal while complying with the one or more operating rules.

Claims

28 · 2 independent · depth 3

28 granted claims

›1.independentA system for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle within an environment, the system comprising:none or more sensors carried on the unmanned aerial v…+13

›2.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of the following: a vision sensor, a lidar sensor, or an ultrasonic senso…d2

›3.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of different sensor types.d2

›4.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is caused to move in accordance with the signal while complying with the selected one or mo…d2

›5.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental complexity factor is determined based on a three-dimensional digital representation of the environmen…d2+1

›7.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating rules are determined based on previously obtained flight data.d2

›8.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating rules are configured to reduce collisions between the unmanned aerial vehicle and obstacles i…d2

›9.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating rules comprise one or more velocity rules.d2+3

›13.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating rules comprise one or more altitude rules.d2

›14.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the signal comprises a user input command.d2

›15.independentA method for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle within an environment, the method comprising:nreceiving sensor data of the environment from one or…+13

›16.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of the following: a vision sensor, a lidar sensor, or an ultrasonic sens…d2

›17.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of different sensor types.d2

›18.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is caused to move in accordance with the signal while complying with the selected one or m…d2

›19.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the environmental complexity factor is determined based on a three-dimensional digital representation of the environme…d2+1

›21.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more operating rules are determined based on previously obtained flight data.d2

›22.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more operating rules are configured to reduce collisions between the unmanned aerial vehicle and obstacles …d2

›23.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more operating rules comprise one or more velocity rules.d2+3

›27.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more operating rules comprise one or more altitude rules.d2

›28.↳ 15The method of claim 15, wherein the signal comprises a user input command.d2

Classifications

6 codes

IPC · International Patent Classification

Section B — Performing operations; transporting

B64C39/02

Section G — Physics

G08G5/00
G05D1/04
G08G5/04
G05D13/00
G05D1/00

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Pendency

1.3 y

488 days filing → grant

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non-final + final

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3 RCE

Examiner

Yonel Beaulieu

art unit 3668 · TC 3600

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1 priority documents

›Priority documents — 1

Type	Document	Date
related publication	US 20160070264 A1	10 Mar 2016

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