Assured geo-containment and conformance enforcement system for air, ground, and marine vehicles

A method comprising:

• determining by an enforcement system onboard an unmanned vehicle and prior to operation of the unmanned vehicle, a primary geospatial operational boundary, wherein the primary geospatial operational boundary is defined by boundary data received by the enforcement system prior to operation of the unmanned vehicle, and further wherein the unmanned vehicle comprises a primary positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system and an alternative PNT system, with the primary PNT system and alternative PNT system in communication with the enforcement system;
• determining, by a boundary violation prediction and detection component of the enforcement system and during operation of the unmanned vehicle, at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary, wherein the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary is a minimum distance extending from the primary geospatial operational boundary toward the unmanned vehicle, and wherein the minimum distance is determined by the enforcement system during operation of the unmanned vehicle based at least in part on dynamics information corresponding to the unmanned vehicle including positional data and velocity as determined by the primary PNT system and the alternative PNT system;
• detecting, based on positional data associated with the unmanned vehicle, that the unmanned vehicle has crossed the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary;
• and
• altering the operation of the unmanned vehicle by causing the unmanned vehicle to move to a position which is at least the minimum distance from the primary geospatial operational boundary, using an onboard vehicle control system in communication with and responsive to the enforcement system, and based on the detecting that the unmanned vehicle has crossed the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary.

A computing device in an unmanned vehicle having a primary positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system, an alternative PNT system, and an enforcement system with a boundary violation and detection component in communication with the primary PNT system and alternative PNT system, the computing device comprising:

• one or more processors, wherein at least one of the one or more processors are within the boundary violation and detection component of the enforcement system onboard the unmanned vehicle, and
• memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to:
• determine by the enforcement system, prior to operation of the unmanned vehicle, a primary geospatial operational boundary, wherein the primary geospatial operational boundary is defined by boundary data received by the one or more processors prior to operation of the unmanned vehicle;
• determine by the boundary violation prediction and detection component, during operation of the unmanned vehicle, at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary, wherein the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary is a minimum distance extending from the primary geospatial operational boundary toward the unmanned vehicle, and wherein the minimum distance is based at least in part on dynamics information of the unmanned vehicle including positional data and velocity as determined by the primary PNT system and the alternative PNT system;
• detect, based on positional data associated with the unmanned vehicle, that the unmanned vehicle has crossed the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary;
• and
• alter the operation of the unmanned vehicle by causing the unmanned vehicle to move to a position which is at least the minimum distance from the primary geospatial operational boundary, using an onboard vehicle control system of the unmanned vehicle that is responsive to the enforcement system, and based on the detecting that the unmanned vehicle has crossed the at least one secondary geospatial operational boundary.