Automatic safe-landing-site selection for unmanned aerial systems
US11741702B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 21, 2020 |
| Grant date | Aug 29, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 12, 2041 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG08G5/58
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation system is configured to automatically identify a suitable UAV landing site, for example, in forced-landing (e.g., emergency) scenarios. In some examples, the system receives two or more overlapping images depicting a landscape underneath an airborne unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); generates, based on the two or more overlapping images, a depth map for the landscape; identifies, based on the depth map, regions of the landscape having a depth variance below a threshold value; determines, for each of the regions of the landscape having a depth variance below the threshold value, a landing zone quality score indicative of the depth variance and a semantic type of the region of the landscape; identifies, based on the landing zone quality scores, a suitable location for landing the UAV; and causes the UAV to automatically navigate toward and land on the suitable location.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.