# US 12,190,740 B2 · Flight control for flight-restricted regions

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- Number: US 12,190,740 B2
- Document ID: US12190740B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/164,126
- Filed: 2021-02-01
- Published: 2021-10-07
- Granted: 2025-01-07
- Earliest claimed: 2014-04-17
- Assignees: Sz Dji Technology Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Sz Dji Technology Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Yun Yu; Canlong Lin; Xi Chen; Mingyu Wang; Tao Wang; Jianyu Song
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12190740B2

## CPC

- G08G 5/55: for a single aircraft
- G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00)
- G05D 1/106: {Change initiated in response to external conditions, e.g. avoidance of elevated terrain or of no-fly zones}
- G05D 1/2295: {defining restricted zones, e.g. no-flight zones or geofences}
- G05D 1/606: Compensating for or utilising external environmental conditions, e.g. wind or water currents (station keeping G05D1/611)
- G05D 1/617: Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards (arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80)
- G05D 1/621: {responding to weather conditions, e.g. storms or wind shear}
- G08G 5/20: Arrangements for acquiring, generating, sharing or displaying traffic information (arrangements for monitoring traffic G08G5/72)
- G08G 5/21: located onboard the aircraft
- G08G 5/22: located on the ground
- G08G 5/26: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations
- G08G 5/53: for cruising
- G08G 5/57: for unmanned aircraft
- G08G 5/59: in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
- G08G 5/727: {from a ground station}
- B64U 10/10: Rotorcrafts
- B64U 2101/30: for imaging, photography or videography
- B64U 2201/10: autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
- B64U 2201/20: Remote controls
- G05D 2107/85: {Airports}
- G05D 2109/254: {Flying platforms, e.g. multicopters}
- 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})
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR

## Abstract

A method for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes determining whether the UAV is within a first flight restriction zone or a second flight restriction zone and effecting a restriction on the UAV in accordance with a result of the determination, including prohibiting the UAV from flying in response to determining that the UAV is within the first flight restriction zone, or controlling the UAV to fly below a flight ceiling in response to determining that the UAV is within the second flight restriction zone.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
determining whether the UAV is within a first flight restriction zone or a second flight restriction zone; and
effecting a restriction on the UAV in accordance with a result of the determination, including:
prohibiting the UAV from flying in response to determining that the UAV is within the first flight restriction zone; or
controlling the UAV to fly below a flight ceiling in response to determining that the UAV is within the second flight restriction zone.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining whether an operator of the UAV is an authorized user; and
ignoring the restriction in response to determining that the operator is the authorized user.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the operator is the authorized user includes determining whether the operator is the authorized user with aid of an external device or a server.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein effecting the restriction on the UAV includes effecting the restriction on the UAV no matter whether an operator of the UAV is an authorized user.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the first flight restriction zone and the second flight restriction zone are neighboring to each other.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein:
at least a portion of the second flight restriction zone has a strip shape; or
the second flight restriction zone and a portion of the first flight restriction zone form a region having a strip shape.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein:
the first flight restriction zone is within a first circle having a first radius; and
the second flight restriction zone is within a region between the first circle and a second circle that is concentric with the first circle and has a second radius greater than the first radius.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first flight restriction zone or the second flight restriction zone at least partially overlaps with an airport.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the second flight restriction zone covers at least a portion of a runway of the airport.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the flight ceiling includes a flat flight ceiling or a slanted flight ceiling.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein prohibiting the UAV from flying includes at least one of:
prohibiting the UAV from taking off;
controlling the UAV to land immediately; or
controlling the UAV to land to a desirable location immediately.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the UAV to fly below the flight ceiling includes at least one of:
controlling the UAV to descend until the UAV is below the flight ceiling; or
controlling the UAV to maintain a height below the flight ceiling.

### Claim 13

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a propulsion system;
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
determine whether the UAV is within a first flight restriction zone or a second flight restriction zone; and
effect a restriction on the UAV in accordance with a result of the determination, including:
prohibiting the UAV from flying in response to determining that the UAV is within the first flight restriction zone; or
controlling the UAV to fly below a flight ceiling in response to determining that the UAV is within the second flight restriction zone.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The UAV of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
determine whether an operator of the UAV is an authorized user; and
ignore the restriction in response to determining that the operator is the authorized user.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The UAV of claim 13, wherein the first flight restriction zone and the second flight restriction zone are neighboring to each other.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The UAV of claim 15, wherein:
at least a portion of the second flight restriction zone has a strip shape; or
the second flight restriction zone and a portion of the first flight restriction zone form a region having a strip shape.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The UAV of claim 15, wherein:
the first flight restriction zone is within a first circle having a first radius; and
the second flight restriction zone is within a region between the first circle and a second circle that is concentric with the first circle and has a second radius greater than the first radius.

### Claim 18 (depends on 13)

The UAV of claim 13, wherein the flight ceiling includes a flat flight ceiling or a slanted flight ceiling.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The UAV of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to prohibiting the UAV from flying by performing at least one of:
prohibiting the UAV from taking off;
controlling the UAV to land immediately; or
controlling the UAV to land to a desirable location immediately.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The UAV of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to controlling the UAV to fly below the flight ceiling by performing at least one of:
controlling the UAV to descend until the UAV is below the flight ceiling; or
controlling the UAV to maintain a height below the flight ceiling.