The Boeing Company

Ernesto Valls Hernandez

Francisco A Navarro

Carlos Querejeta Masaveu

Francisco A Navarro Felix

Francisco Garcia De Blanes

Miguel Vilaplana

Isabel Del Pozo De Poza

Luis P D'Alto

Carlos Querejeta

Andrew Hayes

Jesús Cuadrado Sánchez

Lucas Rodriguez Diaz

Alejandro Fransoy Pereira

Piero Chessa

Carlos Querejeta Massaveu

Francisco García De Blanes

José Ignacio Vidal Franco

Jesus Cuadrado Sanchez

Francisco Navarro

Systems and methods for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) collision prevention are provided. The method includes receiving an indication of a location as a no crash zone (NCZ), calculating a trajectory for flight of a vehicle including a plurality of location points, generating a risk score for each location point of the plurality of location points, generating, based on the generated risk scores for each of the location points, a flight risk value for the trajectory of the flight of the vehicle, determining the flight risk value is below a risk threshold, and loading the trajectory to the vehicle.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) collision prevention

A computer-implemented method and a system for generating a path for a vehicle from a source to a target within a two-dimensional (2D) environment with one or more obstacles is disclosed. The obstacles may be dynamic, static or both. The method comprises generating, in a two dimensions-plus-time space, a velocity cone that represents a set of potential waypoints reachable from a first source for the vehicle moving at a speed, providing a polytope, obtaining at least one interception polygon by intersecting and projecting the velocity cone with the polytope on the 2D region; generating a 2D scene comprising interception polygons to avoid, computing a visibility graph algorithm for the 2D scene and obtaining a plurality of conflict-free sub-paths, and composing a valid path connecting the source to the target based on the plurality of conflict-free sub-paths.

Computer-implemented method and a system for defining a path for a vehicle within an environment with obstacles

A system and a method for generating a 3D path from a source to a destination for an aerial vehicle is disclosed. An example system includes a managing unit to select a group of altitude layers including source and destination and generate a 2D horizontal scenario by identifying constraints to avoid at each altitude layer. The example system includes a path computing unit to determine common constraints for the altitude layers of the 2D horizontal scenario and compute a 2D lateral path avoiding the common constraints. The managing unit generates a 2D vertical scenario based on a projection of the previously computed 2D lateral path onto the constraints at the altitude layers. The path computing unit computes a 2D vertical path avoiding constraints of the 2D vertical scenario. The managing unit composes 3D waypoints of a conflict-free 3D path according to the 2D lateral path and 2D vertical path.

Computer-implemented method and a system for generating a 3D path to a landing location for an aerial vehicle

A computer-implemented method and a system for communicating high fidelity (HIFI) trajectory-related information of an aerial vehicle (AV) through standard aircraft trajectory conventions is disclosed. The method includes obtaining, from a first entity, a flight intent containing low fidelity (LOFI) trajectory-related information. The method also includes obtaining intent generation (IG) configuration parameters defining constraints, objectives, or a combination thereof, supplementary to the flight intent, the IG configuration parameters containing HIFI trajectory-related information for closing all degrees of freedom of motion of the AV and configuration. The method includes encoding, using standard aircraft trajectory conventions, the LOFI trajectory-related information from the flight intent and IG configuration parameters as a flight plan and user-defined fields available for information exchange. The method further includes sending, to a second entity, the flight plan and the user-defined fields.

System and method for communicating high fidelity aircraft trajectory-related information through standard aircraft trajectory conventions

Methods and apparatus of tracking moving targets from air vehicles are disclosed. An example system includes an air vehicle including a moving target state estimator to determine at least one of an estimated speed or an estimated location of a moving target, a tracking infrastructure to determine a detectability zone surrounding the moving target based on at least one of the estimated speed or the estimated location of the moving target, and generate a guidance reference to command the air vehicle to move towards a reference location, the reference location based on the estimated location, and a flight control system to cause the air vehicle to follow the moving target outside of the detectability zone based on the guidance reference.

Methods and apparatus of tracking moving targets from air vehicles

Methods and apparatus of tracking moving targets from air vehicles are disclosed. An example method in response to an estimated speed and an estimated location of a moving target, determines a detectability zone surrounding the moving target; and causes an air vehicle to follow the moving target outside of the detectability zone.

Example aircraft intent processors are described herein that can be used both for the prediction of an aircraft's trajectory from aircraft intent, and the execution of aircraft intent for controlling the aircraft. An example aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent input to receive aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions, an aircraft state input to receive state data representative of a state of the aircraft, and a residual output. The aircraft intent processor is to calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by received state data, and output the residual data via the residual output.

Aircraft intent processor

A method of detecting conflicts between aircraft passing through managed airspace, and resolving the detected conflicts strategically. The method may include obtaining intended trajectories of aircraft through the airspace, detecting conflicts in the intended trajectories, forming a set of the conflicted aircraft, calculating one or more revised trajectories for the conflicted aircraft such that the conflicts are resolved, and advising the conflicted aircraft subject to revised trajectories of the revised trajectories.

Conflict detection and resolution using predicted aircraft trajectories

A method of detecting conflicts between aircraft passing through managed airspace, and to resolving the detected conflicts strategically. Air traffic control apparatus arranged to manage airspace through which aircraft are flying is provided that comprises processing means configured to receive aircraft intent data describing an aircraft's intended flight path, to launch a conflict detection procedure in which it computes a user-preferred trajectory for each of the aircraft based on the aircraft intent and determines whether any conflicts will arise, to launch a conflict resolution procedure in which it calculates revisions of the aircraft intent of the conflicted aircraft to remove the conflicts, and to transmit to the aircraft the revised aircraft intent data.

Growing community of inventors

Madrid, Spain

Ernesto Valls Hernandez