Drone control apparatus and method

A drone control method using a wireless communication network, comprising:

• receiving, by a processor, a departure location and a destination location of a drone from a drone operation system;
• determining, by the processor, a flight path between the departure location and the destination location and flight altitude information for the drone along the flight path, based on the departure location, the destination location, pre-stored radio wave environment information indicating a quality of wireless signals of the wireless communication network at spatial locations corresponding to an altitude at a geographic location, and pre-stored flight restriction information;
• transmitting, by the processor, the flight path and the flight altitude information to at least one of the drone and the drone operation system,
• wherein the determining the flight path and the flight altitude information for the drone comprises determining, by the processor, based on the pre-stored radio wave environment information, the flight path and the flight altitude information such that a quality of the wireless communication network along the flight path exceeds a predetermined threshold;
• receiving, by the processor, position information from the drone;
• generating, by the processor, control information to control the drone to fly along the flight path according to the flight altitude information based on the position information and the pre-stored flight restriction information,
• wherein the generating the control information comprises generating, by the processor, based on the position information and the pre-stored flight restriction information, a warning signal in response to the drone approaching or entering a flight restricted area, and
• wherein the generating the control information comprises generating, by the processor, based on the position information, a control signal to change at least one of a flight direction and a flight altitude of the drone in response to the drone approaching or entering the flight restricted area;
• and
• transmitting, by the processor, the control information to at least one of the drone and the drone operation system.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program the computer program causing a computer to perform operations of:

• receiving a departure location and a destination location of a drone from a drone operation system;
• determining a flight path between the departure location and the destination location and flight altitude information for the drone along the flight path, based on the departure location, the destination location, pre-stored radio wave environment information indicating a quality of wireless signals of a wireless communication network at spatial locations corresponding to an altitude at a geographic location, and pre-stored flight restriction information;
• transmitting the flight path and the flight altitude information to at least one of the drone and the drone operation system,
• wherein the determining the flight path and the flight altitude information for the drone comprises determining, based on the pre-stored radio wave environment information, the flight path and the flight altitude information such that a quality of the wireless communication network along the flight path exceeds a predetermined threshold;
• receiving position information from the drone;
• generating control information to control the drone to fly along the flight path according to the flight altitude information based on the position information and the pre-stored flight restriction information,
• wherein the generating the control information comprises generating based on the position information and the pre-stored flight restriction information, a warning signal in response to the drone approaching or entering a flight restricted area, and
• wherein the generating the control information comprises generating based on the position information, a control signal to change at least one of a flight direction and a flight altitude of the drone in response to the drone approaching or entering the flight restricted area;
• and
• transmitting the control information to at least one of the drone and the drone operation system.