# US 11,308,813 B2 · Flight management system

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- Number: US 11,308,813 B2
- Document ID: US11308813B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/488,825
- Filed: 2018-02-27
- Published: 2021-01-07
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-02-27
- Assignees: The University of Tokyo; Blue Innovation Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: The University of Tokyo; BLUE INNOVATION Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Christopher Thomas Raabe; Shinji Suzuki; Takeshi Tsuchiya; Masayuki Kumada; Kazuya Sakai; Takashi Matsuo; Tsuyoshi Chiba
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11308813B2

## CPC

- G08G 5/26: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations
- B64C 13/18: using automatic pilot
- G01C 21/26: specially adapted for navigation in a road network
- G08G 5/22: located on the ground
- G08G 5/34: for flight plan modification
- G08G 5/52: for take-off
- G08G 5/54: for approach or landing
- G08G 5/55: for a single aircraft
- G08G 5/76: for monitoring atmospheric conditions
- B64U 50/19: using electrically powered motors
- B64U 2101/30: for imaging, photography or videography
- G08G 5/57: for unmanned aircraft
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- B64C: AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR

## Abstract

There is provided a flight management system for managing a flight plan of flying objects that fly among ports. The flight management system includes a plurality of port management apparatuses and a flight management apparatus that manages a flight plan of a plurality of flying objects that autonomously fly among the ports, in which each of the port management apparatuses includes determination means for determining whether or not landing or takeoff of the flying objects on or from the corresponding port is possible, and possibility information output means for transferring to the flying objects possibility information about the possibility, and the flight management apparatus includes flying object information reception means for receiving flying object information including flying object position information about a position of each of the flying objects, flight plan registration means for registering the flight plan for flying between the port as a start point and the port as a target point, flight plan change means for changing the flight plan based on the received flying object position information or changed another flight plan, and instruction information output means for outputting instruction information for instructing the flying object about the flight plan.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A flight management system comprising:
a plurality of port management apparatuses that respectively manage ports on and from which flying objects land and take off and a plurality of wind sensors installed at each of the ports, each of the port management apparatuses comprising a processor and a memory; and
a flight management apparatus that manages a flight plan of the plurality of flying objects that autonomously fly among the ports, the flight management apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein
the processor of the port management apparatuses is configured to:
receive wind information from one of the plurality of wind sensors; and
send the wind information to the flight management apparatus, and
the processor of the flight management apparatus is configured to:
receive flying object information including flying object position information about a position of each of the flying objects;
register the flight plan for flying between the port as a start point and the port as a target point;
determine congestion of the flying objects based on the flying object position information and the flight plan and to change the flight plan; and
output instruction information for instructing the flying object about the flight plan.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein
each of the port management apparatuses is configured to receive monitoring information from a monitoring sensor installed in the corresponding port and in a monitoring region including at least a part of the port.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein
each of the ports comprises four or more signal transmission units that respectively transmit short-range wireless signals to the flying objects, and
each of the flying objects moves to a landing point of the port based on the signals respectively transmitted from the signal transmission units.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein
each of the flying objects comprises an image pickup unit for picking up images of markers respectively displayed on the ports, and moves to a landing point based on the images picked up by the image pickup unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein
the processor of the flight management apparatuses is configured to transfer to the port management apparatus, information regarding permission for landing or takeoff, and
the processor of the port management apparatuses is configured to transfer to the flying object whether or not landing or takeoff of the flying object on or from the corresponding port is possible based on the information regarding permission.

### Claim 6

A flight management system for managing a flight plan of a plurality of flying objects that autonomously fly among ports, wherein a plurality of wind sensors are installed at each of the ports, the flight management system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
receiving wind information from one of the plurality of wind sensors;
receiving flying object information including flying object position information about a position of each of the flying objects;
registering the flight plan for flying between the port as a start point and the port as a target point;
determining congestion of the flying objects based on the flying object position information and the flight plan, and changing the flight plan; and
outputting instruction information for instructing the flying object about the flight plan.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The flight management system according to claim 6, wherein the memory further stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
determining whether or not landing or takeoff of the flying objects on or from each of the ports is possible; and
transferring to the flying object possibility information about landing or takeoff possibility.

### Claim 8

A flight management method using a plurality of port management apparatuses that respectively manage ports on and from which flying objects land and take off and a plurality of wind sensors installed at each of the ports, and a flight management apparatus that manages a flight plan of the plurality of flying objects that autonomously fly among the ports, wherein
the flight management method comprises:
receiving, by each of the port management apparatuses, wind information from one of the plurality of wind sensors;
sending, by each of the port management apparatuses, the wind information to the flight management apparatus;
receiving, by the flight management apparatus, flying object information including flying object position information about a position of each of the flying objects;
registering, by the flight management apparatus, the flight plan for flying between the port as a start point and the port as a target point;
determining, by the flight management apparatus, congestion of the flying objects based on the flying object position information and the flight plan, and changing the flight plan; and
outputting, by the flight management apparatus, instruction information for instructing the flying object about the flight plan.