System and method for safety enhancement of stationary drone mission operations
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorRobert J. Hall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a device having a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations including: receiving a path of a threat vehicle; calculating a closest approach distance based on a current position of a drone and the path of the threat vehicle; determining that the closest approach distance is within a threshold; and sending a command to the drone to descend to a safe altitude. Other embodiments are disclosed.
Claims20
A device, comprising:
- a processing system including a processor;
- and
- a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
- receiving a path of a threat vehicle;
- calculating a closest approach distance based on a current position of a drone and the path of the threat vehicle, the current position of the drone comprising a current operating altitude of the drone;
- and
- determining that the closest approach distance is within a threshold, and responsively:
- storing the current operating altitude of the drone as a saved waypoint in the memory;
- sending a command to the drone to descend to a safe altitude;
- landing the drone if a user command to land the drone is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- overwriting the saved waypoint to be equal to a new target waypoint if a user command to operate the drone at the new target waypoint is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- and
- sending a command to the drone to operate at the saved waypoint upon identifying, while the drone is operating at the safe altitude, an absence of threat vehicles having a respective closest approach distance within the threshold.
A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
- receiving a path of a threat vehicle;
- calculating that the path of the threat vehicle intersects a volume surrounding a current position of a drone, the current position of the drone comprising a current operating altitude of the drone;
- and
- determining that the path of the threat vehicle intersects the volume, and responsively:
- storing the current operating altitude of the drone as a saved waypoint in a memory;
- sending the drone a command to descend to a safe altitude;
- landing the drone if a user command to land the drone is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- overwriting the saved waypoint to be equal to a new target waypoint if a user command to operate the drone at the new target waypoint is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- and
- sending a command to the drone to operate at the saved waypoint upon identifying, while the drone is operating at the safe altitude, an absence of threat vehicles having a respective path that intersects the volume.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a processing system including a processor, a path of a threat vehicle;
- calculating, by the processing system, a closest approach distance based on a current position of a drone and the path of the threat vehicle, the current position of the drone comprising a current operating altitude of the drone;
- and
- determining, by the processing system, that the closest approach distance is within a threshold, and responsively:
- storing, by the processing system, the current operating altitude of the drone as a saved waypoint in a memory;
- sending, by the processing system, a command to the drone to descend to a safe altitude;
- landing, by the processing system, the drone if a user command to land the drone is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- overwriting, by the processing system, the saved waypoint to be equal to a new target waypoint if a user command to operate the drone at the new target waypoint is received while the drone is operating at the safe altitude;
- and
- sending, by the processing system, a command to the drone to operate at the saved waypoint upon identifying, while the drone is operating at the safe altitude, an absence of threat vehicles having a respective closest approach distance within the threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.