Systems and methods for managing unmanned vehicle interactions with various payloads

A method for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising:

• performing testing during a take-off period and monitoring performance of the UAV to determine a value corresponding to a mass of an attached payload;
• predicting a flight response of the UAV to particular movements at one or more flight velocities based on the value corresponding to the mass of the attached payload;
• and
• modifying UAV commands received from a pilot using the predicted flight response to optimize UAV flight performance.

A method for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving payload attribute data via an adaptor between a UAV and an attached payload;
• performing a calibration flight of the UAV and the attached payload to generate calibration flight data;
• and
• adjusting one or more flight parameters of the UAV based at least in part on the payload attribute data and the calibration flight data.

A non-transient computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform a method for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising:

• performing testing during a take-off period and monitoring performance of the UAV to determine a value corresponding to a mass of an attached payload;
• predicting a flight response of the UAV to particular movements at one or more flight velocities based on the value corresponding to the mass of the attached payload;
• and
• modifying UAV commands received from a pilot using the predicted flight responses to optimize UAV flight performance.

A system for optimizing flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a payload, the system comprising:

• a microprocessor-based controller associated with a UAV, the microprocessor-based controller including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by the controller cause the controller to perform a method including:
• i. determining a UAV context based at least in part on Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data from the UAV;
• ii. receiving payload identification data;
• iii. determining a burdened flight profile based at least in part on the payload identification data;
• and
• iv. determining one or more burdened flight parameters, wherein the one or more burdened flight parameters are based at least in part on the UAV context and the burdened flight profile.

A method for optimizing flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a payload, the method comprising:

• receiving one or more human-initiated flight instructions;
• determining a UAV context based at least in part on Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data from the UAV;
• receiving payload identification data;
• accessing a laden flight profile based at least in part on the payload identification data;
• and
• determining one or more laden flight parameters, wherein the one or more laden flight parameters are based at least in part on the one or more human-initiated flight instructions, the UAV context, and the laden flight profile.

A system for optimizing flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a payload, the system comprising:

• a microprocessor-based controller operable to execute the following operational instructions:
• i. instructions for receiving one or more human-initiated flight instructions;
• ii. instructions for determining a UAV context based at least in part on Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data from the UAV;
• iii. instructions for receiving payload identification data;
• iv. instructions for accessing or calculating a laden flight profile based at least in part on the payload identification data and
• v. instructions for determining at least one set of burdened flight parameters, wherein the burdened flight parameters are based at least in part on the human-initiated flight instruction, the UAV context, and the burdened flight profile.