Adhoc geo-fiducial mats for landing uavs
AssigneeWing Aviation LLC
InventorsDamien Jourdan, Anthony Sekine, Scott Velez, André Prager
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for visual navigation of a UAV includes a geo-fiducial mat and a plurality of geo-fiducials. The geo-fiducial mat includes a landing pad region that provides a location for aligning with a landing pad of a UAV. The geo-fiducials each includes a two-dimensional (2D) pattern that visually conveys a code. The 2D pattern has a shape from which a visual navigation system of the UAV can visually triangulate a position of the UAV.
Claims20
An apparatus for visual navigation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the apparatus comprising:
- a geo-fiducial mat including:
- a landing pad region that provides a location for aligning with a landing pad of the UAV;
- and
- alignment markings disposed on the geo-fiducial mat for indicating the landing pad region and aiding alignment of the landing pad to the landing pad region;
- and
- a plurality of geo-fiducials disposed in or about the landing pad region and each specified for a unique directional and offset position on the geo-fiducial mat, wherein the geo-fiducials each includes a two-dimensional (2D) pattern that visually conveys a code, wherein the 2D pattern has a shape from which an optical navigation system of the UAV can visually triangulate a position of the UAV.
A system for navigating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during landing or takeoff, the system comprising:
- a charging pad for charging the UAV;
- a geo-fiducial mat including a landing pad region that provides a location for aligning the charging pad with the geo-fiducial mat, wherein the geo-fiducial mat includes a flexible substrate material that is amenable to rolling or folding;
- and
- a plurality of geo-fiducials disposed in or about the charging pad region, wherein the geo-fiducials each includes a two-dimensional (2D) pattern that visually conveys an alphanumerical code different from each other, wherein the 2D pattern has a shape from which an optical navigation system of the UAV can visually triangulate a position of the UAV.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.