# US 2017/0283053 A1 · Uninhabited aerial vehicle, uninhabited aerial vehicla control system, and uninhabited aerial vehicle control method

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- Number: US 2017/0283053 A1
- Document ID: US20170283053A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/465,722
- Filed: 2017-03-22
- Published: 2017-10-05
- Earliest claimed: 2016-03-29
- Assignees: NEC Corporation
- Applicants: NEC Corporation
- Inventors: Hirotake TODA; Ken KASAGI
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170283053A1

## CPC

- G08G 5/30: Flight plan management
- B64D 45/02: Lightning protectors; Static dischargers
- B64U 10/13: Flying platforms
- F03D 80/30: Lightning protection
- G05D 1/102: {specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft}
- G06T 7/70: Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80)
- G08G 5/26: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations
- G08G 5/32: for flight plan preparation
- H02G 13/40: {Connection to earth}
- H02G 13/80: {Discharge by conduction or dissipation, e.g. rods, arresters, spark gaps}
- H04W 84/00: Network topologies
- B64U 2101/00: UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications
- B64U 2101/30: for imaging, photography or videography
- B64U 2101/35: for science, e.g. meteorology
- B64U 2201/10: autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
- B64U 2201/104: using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS
- B64U 2201/20: Remote controls
- G06T 2207/30252: Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
- H04W 64/00: Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
- Y02E 10/72: Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction
- 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})
- B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT
- B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
- F03D: WIND MOTORS
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- H02G: INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

An uninhabited aerial vehicle includes: a calculator that calculates position information indicating a position and an altitude of the vehicle; an image capturing unit that captures an image; a lightning rod; a controller that controls the position and altitude of the vehicle; and a communicator which performs information communication, wherein the calculator transmits the position information to the communicator, the image capturing unit calculates a position of an object to be protected against a thunderbolt from the image, and transmits the calculated position to the communicator, the communicator transmits the position information received from the calculator and the position of the object received from the image capturing unit to the outside, and receives flight instruction information, and the controller controls the position and the altitude of the vehicle based on received flight instruction information of the received flight instruction information.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An uninhabited aerial vehicle comprising:
a calculator configured to calculate position information indicating a position and an altitude of the uninhabited aerial vehicle;
an image capturing unit configured to capture an image;
a lightning rod that couples to a conducting wire with one end grounded;
a controller configured to control the position and the altitude of the uninhabited aerial vehicle; and
a communicator which performs information communication with an outside,
wherein the calculator transmits the position information to the communicator,
the image capturing unit calculates a position of an object to be protected against a thunderbolt from the captured image, and transmits the calculated position of the object to the communicator,
the communicator transmits the position information received from the calculator and the position of the object received from the image capturing unit to the outside, and receives flight instruction information based on the position information and the position of the object from the outside, and
the controller controls the position and the altitude of the uninhabited aerial vehicle based on received flight instruction information of the received flight instruction information.

### Claim 2

An uninhabited aerial vehicle control system comprising:
an uninhabited aerial vehicle including a calculator configured to calculate position information indicating a current position and an altitude of the uninhabited aerial vehicle, image capturing means for capturing an image, a lightning rod that couples to a conducting wire with one end grounded, a controller configured to control the position and the altitude of the uninhabited aerial vehicle, and a communicator which performs information communication with an outside; and
a ground station,
wherein the calculator transmits the position information to the communicator,
wherein the image capturing unit calculates a position of an object to be protected against a thunderbolt from the captured image, and transmits the calculated position of the object to the communicator,
wherein the communicator transmits the position information received from the calculator and the position of the object received from the image capturing unit to the ground station,
wherein the ground station calculates flight instruction information based on the received position information and the received position of the object and transmits the calculated flight instruction information to the communicator,
the communicator receives the flight instruction information from the ground station, and
the controller controls the position and the altitude based on the received flight instruction information.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The uninhabited aerial vehicle control system according to claim 2, wherein the ground station determines a region to be protected from the received position of the object and calculates flight instruction information such that the determined region to be protected falls within a lightning protection area of the lightning rod.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The uninhabited aerial vehicle control system according to claim 2, wherein the uninhabited aerial vehicle comprises a plurality of uninhabited aerial vehicles, and the ground station determines a region to be protected from the received position of the object and calculates flight instruction information such that the region to be protected falls within an area obtained by overlapping lightning protection areas of lightning rods of the plurality of uninhabited aerial vehicles when the region to be protected is larger than a lightning protection area of one of the lightning rods.

### Claim 5

An uninhabited aerial vehicle control method comprising:
calculating position information indicating a current position and an altitude;
capturing an image;
calculating a position of an object to be protected against a thunderbolt from the captured image;
transmitting the position information and the position of the object to an outside;
receiving flight instruction information based on the position information and the position of the object from the outside; and
controlling a position and an altitude of an uninhabited aerial vehicle based on the received flight instruction information.