System having a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles and a method of controlling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles

A method of controlling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, the method comprising:

• using a single controller to broadcast a command from a transmitter to all of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles within range of the transmitter, wherein the command comprises obstacle data defining one or more spatial coordinates representative of a position of one or more objects present in an environment of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
• and each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles comprises a memory which stores a flight plan, the flight plan comprising a flight path comprising a plurality of spatial coordinates for the unmanned aerial vehicle to occupy, each spatial coordinate being associated with a discrete time in a time period;
• and
• at each of the unmanned aerial vehicles:
• (i) receiving the command which has been broadcast from the transmitter;
• (ii) determining, based on a comparison between the spatial coordinates specified in the flight path of the flight plan and the one or more spatial coordinates defined by the obstacle data contained in the received command, whether following the flight plan would result in the unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with said one or more objects;
• and
• (iii) if it is determined that following the flight plan would result in the unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with said one or more objects, then operating the unmanned aerial vehicle to follow an alternative flight plan.

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

• a memory which stores a flight plan, the flight plan comprising a flight path comprising a plurality of spatial coordinates for the unmanned aerial vehicle to occupy, each spatial coordinate being associated with a discrete time in a time period;
• a control unit which is configured such that it can control the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle so that the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle follows the flight plan;
• and
• a processor which is configured such that it can:
• (i) receive a command which has been broadcast from a controller, wherein the command comprises obstacle data defining one or more spatial coordinates representative of a position of one or more objects present in an environment of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
• (ii) determine, based on a comparison between the spatial coordinates specified in the flight path of the flight plan and the one or more spatial coordinates defined by the obstacle data contained in the received command, whether following the flight plan would result in the unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with said one or more objects;
• and
• (iii) if the processor determines that following the flight plan would result in the unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with said one or more objects, initiate the control unit to operate the unmanned aerial vehicle to follow an alternative flight plan.