Patent Application
20210295715
The present disclosure relates to logistics, particularly a logistic operational mission planning and management system based on unmanned aerial vehicles.
UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technologies gradually matured nowadays have proved effective in applications extensively. Moreover, statutes and regulations amended constantly are diversifying future UAV applications and promoting safe flights as well as efficacious management which are imperative for controllable UAV flights and optimized flyable airspace and regarded as main subjects to be researched and developed in all countries.
Flight mission planning and air traffic control/management of UAV operation should be completed in a prototype system based on services, roles, responsibilities, infrastructures, performance requirements, information structure, software functions and data exchange protocols. The prototype system is an expandable, flexible and adaptable system responding changeable requirements, quantities, technologies, business models and applications and preserving a manned air traffic control interface. Subject to surveillances of a UAV air traffic control center (ATCC), UAVs are operated and managed in flyable airspace in which all UAVs are flying safely and reliably.
In a remote-control flight mission beyond the visual range, a UAV on which a parcel is carried for a destination 15 kilometers away from a start point has to fly in flyable airspace along a flight path created by a mission planning system according to a database for elevations and terrains. The flight path which has been planned, simulated and tested complies with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for flyable airspace including electronic fence, availability of flyable airspace, temporary area and restricted area. The flight path is a proper, safe and economically effective route along which a UAV does not collide with another UAV operated in the same airspace and no barrier except emergencies exists.
In the issued U.S. patents of U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,690 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,038 for terrain data processing, terrain awareness and an early warning system granted to the patent applicant, a set of terrain nodes with the their heights greater than the minimum flight altitude are collected according to positioning and flight conditions for creation of a structured terrain model with which algorithms related to collision checks, mountain borders and region growths are employed for no collisions between UAVs and terrains, dynamic path planning based on visibility graphs, and reduction of instant computing resources.
Having reviewed prior arts, the patent applicant further develops a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) logistic operational mission planning and management system with which a tree data structure of a terrain model for airspace is constructed. Based on the tree data structure of the terrain model, a flight mission path at which hazards and barriers are prevented is planned for airway capacity planning and air traffic control, surveillances of flights within an airway, emergency management, fulfillment of technology for UAV logistics operation, and healthy development of the industry.
The present disclosure aims to offer a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) logistic operational mission planning and management system with which a terrain model for flight space is constructed and a flight mission path is planned for UAVs flying at an automatic or manual remote-control mode safely without collision with terrains or unexpected barriers, applications to over-the-horizon flights, and available flight space maximized.
A UAV logistic operational mission planning and management system in the present disclosure comprises:
a digital terrain modeling subsystem for construction of a tree data structure of a terrain model in flight space;
a flight mission path planning subsystem with which a flight mission path for hazard/barrier preventions is planned by referring to the tree data structure of the terrain model;
an airway capacity planning & traffic flow control subsystem for airway capacity planning and traffic flow control based on the flight mission path; and
a UAV operation, air traffic control and monitoring subsystem for surveillances of UAV flights in an airway and interventions of emergency events.
The digital terrain modeling subsystem comprises a cloud terrain database module and a terrain modeling module: the cloud terrain database module is used to access a DTM (digital terrain model) database, a DSM (digital surface model) database, or a no-fly zone & miscellaneous database through which a plurality of elevation-related data is collected and sent to the terrain modeling module for construction of a terrain model with a plurality of elevation-related data stacked.
The flight mission path planning subsystem comprises a static mission planning module and a dynamic mission planning module: the static mission planning module is used in creating a flight mission path for a scheduled and planned mission in advance; the dynamic mission planning module is used in creating a flight mission path for an unscheduled or unplanned mission or a flight mission path immediately planned for hazard/collision preventions.
Each of the static mission planning module and the dynamic mission planning module is connected with a macro path planning unit and/or a micro path planning unit: the macro path planning unit is capable of producing a straight flight path with a simple and fixed altitude for topographies relatively flat or less undulated in a terrain model; the micro path planning unit is characteristic of generating a flight path for topographies complicated and/or flight altitudes changeable to be bypassed or beyond the limitation of the flight altitude in a flight segment of an airway.
The tree data structure is a QUADTREE or OCTREE data structure.
A UAV logistic operational mission planning and management method, comprising:
a tree data structure of a terrain model is constructed for flight airspace and characteristic of each node corresponding to a location in the terrain model and having elevation-related data with respect to the location;
a mission path for hazard/barrier preventions is planned based on the tree data structure of the terrain model;
airway capacity planning and traffic flow control are effectuated according to the mission path; and
a UAV flying in the airway is monitored for emergency management.
A tree data structure is re-stacked with separate tree structures, each of which is constituted by a plurality of elevation-related data, in a stack process during which typical values corresponding to nodes in a separate tree structure are checked such that stacking is completed through node merging and node splitting; alternatively, a plurality of elevation-related data are stacked such that a tree data structure is constructed through node merging and node splitting.
A tree data structure is created according to variable resolution modeling. In modeling, each tree layer of a tree data structure is given a distinct node resolution and a lower-level tree layer features a higher node resolution. For an area with its terrain feature to be strengthened, the nodes corresponding to the area can be separated and merged into a lower-level tree layer for a higher node resolution; for an area with no terrain feature strengthened or a feature negligible, the nodes corresponding to the area can be merged into a higher-level tree layer for a lower node resolution.
Moreover, a tree data structure is created according to multiple resolution modeling. In modeling, each tree layer of a tree data structure is given a distinct node resolution and a lower-level tree layer features a higher node resolution. From the lowest-level tree layer, terrain features of all nodes at a tree layer, based on setting conditions, are incorporated into corresponding nodes at a higher-level tree layer and re-incorporated into nodes at a further higher-level tree layer and root nodes of the tree data structure finally.
The method for flight path planning is shown as follows:
a start point and a destination are created in a terrain model for development of a ground track related to a straight flight path;
a hazardous area, which consists of a group of nodes in the terrain model, along the straight flight path is recognized through collision prevention checks based on flight altitudes and the ground track for the straight flight path;
a set of nodes beyond the hazardous area are defined as candidate waypoints in flight mission path planning by collision prevention checks;
a visibility graph based on the candidate waypoints is created for development of collision-free flight segments by flight path searching; and
Referring to
1. Digital terrain modeling subsystem 101: The subsystem is used to construct a tree data structure of a terrain model for flight space by a first-build/last-stack or first-stack/last-build method wherein the tree data structure is characteristic of the sequence to be adjusted with a variable resolution modeling method or a multiple resolution modeling method.
2. Flight mission path planning subsystem 201: With a static mission planning mode and a dynamic mission planning mode for practices of macro path planning and/or micro path planning of various terrain models, the subsystem for UAV commercial operations is used in planning and developing a comprehensive flight mission path for hazard/barrier preventions by referring to the tree data structure of a terrain model.
3. Airway capacity planning & traffic flow control subsystem 301: The subsystem refers to a flight mission path for airway capacity planning and air traffic control in which taking-off and landing areas, UAV operations and flight managements are covered and further applications of blockchain technology to airway capacity planning, UAV safe separation distance and traffic flow control.
4. UAV operation, air traffic control and monitoring subsystem 401: The subsystem is provided with an interface through which an air traffic control center is communicated for surveillances of UAV flights, interventions of emergency events, display of flight mission path status and availability of a flyable airspace and particularly a UAV pilot interface.
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The static mission planning module 203 is connected with a macro path planning unit 204 and a micro path planning unit 205: the macro path planning unit 204 is capable of producing a straight flight path with a simple and fixed altitude based on the principle of macro path planning for topographies relatively flat or less undulated in a terrain model; the micro path planning unit 205 is characteristic of generating a flight path for topographies complicated and/or flight altitudes changeable based on the principle of micro path planning for terrain features to be bypassed or beyond the limitation of a flight altitude in a flight segment of an airway. A path optimization 208 and even a flight mission simulation 209, if necessary, should be available to a planned flight mission path.
Similarly, strategies of macro path planning and micro path planning are applicable to the dynamic mission planning module 210 in which flight mission path re-planning 211 in a mission is initiated particularly for any change in a destination or a UAV's misadventure such as unregistered barrier and task conflict alert that should be handled through airborne real-time path planning 206 or ground real-time path planning 207. Moreover, the dynamic mission planning module 210 is available to real-time hazard/collision prevention 212 with situations handled through airborne real-time hazard/collision prevention planning 213 or ground real-time hazard/collision prevention planning 214 similarly.
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71. A tree data structure, QUADTREE or OCTREE, of a terrain model is constructed for flight airspace and characteristic of each node corresponding to a location in the terrain model wherein a node generated from digital terrain elevation data (DTED) or a digital surface model (DSM) comprises elevation-related data with respect to the location and is accessed for a topographic height;
72. A flight mission path for hazard/barrier preventions is planned based on the tree data structure of the terrain model;
73. Airway capacity planning and traffic flow control are effectuated according to the flight mission path; and
74. A UAV flying in the airway is monitored for emergency management.
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81. A start point and a destination are created in a terrain model for development of a ground track related to a straight flight path;
82. A hazardous area, which consists of a group of nodes in the terrain model, along the straight flight path is recognized through collision prevention checks based on flight altitudes and the ground track for the straight flight path;
83. A set of nodes beyond the hazardous area are defined as candidate waypoints in flight mission path planning by an algorithm for collision prevention checks;
84. A visibility graph based on the candidate waypoints is created for development of collision-free flight segments by an algorithm for flight path searching; and
85. A flight mission path with flight segments is created by linking the start point and the destination and a configuration file for the flight mission path is derived by accesses to corresponding nodes in the tree data structure of the terrain model.
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In the multiple resolution modeling, any detailed information which can be presented by an approximate value or an equivalent value is incorporated into root nodes. For a flight mission, an algorithm for flight path searching will be initiated from any lower-level tree layer in a tree data structure or further from a higher-level tree layer in the case of no proper flight path found at the previous lower-level tree layer for immediate processing of variable flight parameters such as velocity, altitude and changed destination.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
