Dynamic Obstacle Margin Adjustment For Vehicles And Related Methods

A system for dynamic obstacle avoidance in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• dynamically modify an obstacle margin based on detected conditions to enable navigation through confined areas;
• automatically shrink the obstacle margin when the UAV is in a reduced obstacle mode;
• limit a maximum speed of the UAV to a predetermined value when in the reduced obstacle mode;
• reduce a size of an obstacle map to enhance resolution and improve detection of confined spaces;
• dynamically determine the detected conditions to automatically adjust a level of obstacle avoidance;
• automatically adjust the level of obstacle avoidance to adapt to the detected conditions;
• detect when the reduced obstacle mode can be exited;
• and
• automatically return the UAV to a previous mode upon detecting that the reduced obstacle mode can be exited.

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more computer-readable media;
• and
• program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors of an aerial vehicle, direct the one or more processors to at least:
• dynamically modifying an obstacle margin based on detected conditions to enable navigation through confined areas;
• automatically shrinking the obstacle margin when the UAV is in a reduced obstacle mode;
• limiting a maximum speed of the UAV to a predetermined value when in the reduced obstacle mode;
• reducing a size of an obstacle map to enhance resolution and improve detection of confined spaces;
• dynamically determining the detected conditions to automatically adjust a level of obstacle avoidance;
• automatically adjusting the level of obstacle avoidance to adapt to the detected conditions;
• detecting when the reduced obstacle mode can be exited;
• and
• automatically returning the UAV to a previous mode upon detecting that the reduced obstacle mode can be exited.